Anyone who has been following singer Taylor Swift since 2020 should not be remotely surprised by her endorsing Kamala Harris for president on Tuesday night.
As much as some conservatives want to view Swift’s endorsement as an earth-shattering betrayal, they would do well not to look for validation in celebrity endorsements to begin with.
People on all positions on the political spectrum think being a conservative and being a “Swiftie” is oxymoronic. This week, friends and family have asked me if I would take down my Time magazine cover of Swift at my office (the one of her striking a pose donning her cat as a scarf), or if I would change my red-themed birthday party this month, inspired by Swift’s 2012 album “Red.”
As a proud conservative who has been a huge fan of Swift since 2017, I assure you both remain intact. And I’m not the only one.
The X account “Swifties for Trump,” which has more than 20,000 followers, wrote on Sept. 11, “Taylor Swift is not your average American. She doesn’t balance her checkbook.”
“The majority of us, however, live in a very different world than Taylor Swift. She can afford to vote on emotion and identity politics,” the account added.
Sounds reasonable enough. On the other hand, Elon Musk and other influencers have wasted no time roasting Miss Americana, a tactic I bet wins over precisely none of her fans.
“You can kiss your sales from your Republican audience goodbye, Taylor,” podcaster Megyn Kelly said. “I hope you enjoyed them while you had them.”
Even as a conservative myself, I anticipate these attacks provide more ammunition for the mainstream media to mock conservatives as petty and hypocritical.
Those who are personally offended by Swift’s endorsement and call to boycott her music are about as tolerant as the NFL fans who want to cancel Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ wife, Brittany Mahomes, for liking pro-Trump comments on her Instagram.
No matter what you think of either lady, I assure you they are not losing sleep or money over your political views. Neither of them has to worry about making ends meet, yet calls to boycott Swift grow nonetheless.
I fear that the political ridicule of Swift and her fans will backfire, feeding the Left’s narrative that conservatives are hysterical, cat-lady-hating men who care more about fewer women deciding to have kids than looking out for their neighbors.
This may come as a surprise, as it goes against all social media users’ impulse to share secondary, out-of-context sound bites and shallow retweets that are at our fingertips.
Was I thrilled about Swift’s political post? No. Mostly because I am aware the singer’s massive influence may sadly be the deciding factor for some young voters of my generation, who are uninterested in how disastrous (yet innocuous-sounding) policies affect everyday Americans.
In my generation, liberal ideals usually face not even a smidgen of earnest debate in college classrooms, on hit TV shows, or on most popular influencers’ social media pages.
That said, everyone is entitled to his or her political opinion, and Swift’s politics have no influence on my being a fan of her music. Her views certainly haven’t kept me from being an admirer of her work ethic in a grueling industry.
Now, a more polite way of putting Musk and others’ message is “just stick to singing,” and I agree. Not just as a conservative skeptical of elitism, but as someone who doesn’t look to celebrities for political validation.
However, out-of-touch liberals in Hollywood who add activist roles to their bios are nothing new. For instance, I haven’t seen anyone object to watching “The Avengers” over Incredible Hulk actor Mark Ruffalo’s joyful tweets.
Perhaps we can separate art from artist, enjoying entertainment made by those who do not share our political affiliations or beliefs. Most conservatives are used to that reality and are experienced in civil disagreement.
If conservatives supported only the entertainers they agreed with, they would have slim pickings on another level. Far slimmer than liberals will ever have.
Besides, the very mindset of aiming to end someone’s career over politics alone echoes the cancel culture that conservatives condemn.
If a singer has to agree with your politics for you to like them, that says more about you than it says about him or her.
As for me, I will continue to stream Swift’s music and celebrate my upcoming Swift-themed birthday party. And I intend to keep politics out of that celebration, if for just a few hours.