So far, Taylor Swift has stayed out of the election cycle, and yes, we are all quite shocked by it. But she’s been busy performing on tour and being in love with her normal, all-American, football-playing boyfriend. She’s also been busy getting to know all of his relatively Republican friends like Harrison Butker, Brittany Mahomes, and — randomly — my dog sitter’s brother. None of this, however, has stopped some of the Swifties from trying to mobilize for Kamala on her behalf — but not all the Swifties.
Enter: Swifties for Trump.
In previous years, Taylor Swift has been outspoken on the American political front as depicted in her documentary, “Miss Americana.” In 2018, she spoke out in favor of Democratic Senator candidate Phil Bredesen and vehemently against Marsha Blackburn. Though she was raised in a Republican home, she girlbossed her way to despising Trump and her red home state of Tennessee. Last year, she posted an Instagram story the Tuesday before National Voter Registration Day encouraging her followers to register to vote:
But this year? She’s been silent. And the fans have been talking about it — and not loving it.
TikTokers are asking questions like, “Any idea why Taylor Swift is suddenly silent on politics? Even after Trump just posted the fake images of her endorsing him? Y’all I think that man is getting to her.” There is some debate in the comments on this one as to whom “that man” is — Trump or Travis. Most believe Travis because he isn’t as Left-wing as they originally thought.
So, in Miss Swift’s silence, her fans decided to take it upon themselves to begin her political movement, creating Swifties For Kamala (@swifties4kamala) across basically every social media platform available. Their Instagram has 49k followers.
The Swifties for Kamala idea came from one lone Swiftie who tweeted that “U.S. swifties should mass organize and help campaign for Kamala Harris” so they can have a plan “to move and push blue votes.”
The movement took off from there and ran right up to a Swifties for Kamala Zoom call. (Which makes me think maybe we should hop on this Zoom call trend. Maybe a Rational People Who Can’t Stand Kamala call?) But what a special time the call appears to have been.
During the call, Elizabeth Warren gave what I assume she thought were words of encouragement: “I want to start with you, and that is what I love best about Swifties. You are resilient, and you know how to take on bullies, and you know how to be your most authentic, most joyful selves. And you overcome pretty much anything that life throws at you. And that’s what the Kamala Harris campaign is all about.” What does any of that even mean? It is superficial, and it is fluff. Perhaps instead of advocating to stand up to Donald Trump, she could go do something — anything — productive for the United States.
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Then, in a strange showing of one of Swift’s songs, Carole King entered the call as a surprise guest. Once upon a time, I loved Carole King. I grew up listening to her. For my own sake, she should have just sat this one out.
But even through all the cringe, this mobilization, as they call it, does not appear to have much power behind it. That is probably why the mainstream media got involved. Cosmopolitan published an article this week titled, “Swifties for Kamala Is Mobilizing Taylor Swift Fans — Even if Taylor Herself Isn’t,” which they posted on Instagram.
But the comments were telling quite a different story, correcting Cosmo with #swiftiesfortrump.
I would guess Cosmo wasn’t expecting this response — but they should have been. If they had spent any time on TikTok lately, they would have known better. One photo in particular seemed to circulate fast and furious:
And then Swifties for Trump really picked up steam. Now, these videos are everywhere.
All hope is not lost when it comes to women or the Swifties. To reiterate a point I’ve made several times: I don’t view Taylor as a detriment to society as many conservatives do. She is a far better role model than most, is said to be quite kind, is close with her family, and upholds her values. Now, she is proving to be tolerant enough to have friends whose ideas differ from hers. That alone speaks volumes.
#swiftiesfortrump
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