KULTURKAMPF

Trump v. Swift: Musician poised to raise political voice in 2024

Tim Carpenter, Kansas Reflector
October 15, 2023 

Taylor Swift, seen here in 2019, is re-recording her albums so she can control their rights (AFP)

LAWRENCE — Professional musician and novice Kansas City Chiefs enthusiast Taylor Swift avoided flexing her artistry on the political stage during the 2016 presidential contest between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.

A pair of Kansas college professors, who consider themselves Swifties, said the Grammy Award winner began to find her voice in 2018 while calling upon passionate fans to register to vote.

“I’ve heard criticism about her political silence before 2018, particularly her political silence during the 2016 election. I hear those concerns. I understand them,” said Brian Donovan, a University of Kansas sociology professor who has been working on a book about Swift. “If we put it in context, we should recognize that she came from a country music background that tilted more conservative. She saw what happened to the Dixie Chicks, now called the Chicks, when they spoke out about politics.”

In 2020, Swift endorsed Democrat Joe Biden for president. She stepped further into the spotlight in 2022 by criticizing the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to undercut national recognition of abortion rights. She has identified as a feminist and advocated for LGBTQ rights and gun control. She’s been critical of police brutality, racism and white supremacy. She donated to the NAACP and Black Lives Matter.

Swift, who brought Swifties together with NFL fans by publicly dating Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, posted a request to her Instagram account in September that prompted more than 35,000 to register at Vote.org.

Donovan and Hannah Wing, assistant professor of communications at Wichita State University, said during a Dole Institute program sponsored by KU student groups that Swift was a rare cultural phenomenon with special appeal among young women. It was reasonable to expect Taylor to rely on her broadening allure to speak now and in the 2024 election cycle about her perspective on political causes and candidates, they said.

“We’ll see her feel more comfortable as an advocate,” Wing said. “She has a lot of potential in her role as an advocate. I look forward to seeing how she grows into that in the future.”

Trump v. Swift

Former White House aide Alyssa Farah Griffin, who co-hosts The View, said Swift was the only person capable of defeating former President Donald Trump in next year’s presidential contest.

Donovan said Swift’s influence had grown significantly across the United States, but in recent years she had effectively maneuvered to avoid intense criticism for views on subjects that could spark boycotts.

“I think she’s avoided being caught up in kind of culture war discourse,” Donovan said. “Her star is burning so bright right now she’s almost untouchable.”

Donovan, who has taught a class at KU on Swift, said the performer delivered a speech at New York University that included useful advice for politicians.

“She said that we need to learn to live alongside cringe,” he said. “What is cringe now might be cool later. What is cool now might be cringe later. I think that’s a great lesson, not just for leaders and politicians, but for everyone else.”

Wing, who dedicated her Ohio State University doctoral dissertation to Swift, said Swift was fearlessness about showing vulnerability in her music and had demonstrated it could be an asset. She said politicians could benefit from expressing more vulnerability, because it would show voters more of their personality and better define what mattered to them.

A delicate balance

Wing said there was a clear expectation among fans that music celebrities would make political statements.

“It’s no longer acceptable to not rock the boat by not saying anything,” she said.

Donovan added: “It’s delicate though. In that we’re asking somebody to take on the voice of activism or take on the voice of politics when that might not be their native voice.”

Matty Healy, with the band The 1975, was in a relationship with Swift. Healy, a bad-boy provocateur, had tripped over his tongue when making political statements designed to appeal to people on the left of the political spectrum. While trying to critique Kanye West and Trump, Healy carelessly delivered a Nazi salute and marched in place.

“That gesture did active harm, especially to Jewish people in the context of rising anti-Semitism,” Donovan said.

He said hefty criticism of Swift’s relationship with Healy or questions about her carbon footprint due to frequent use of private jets showed her fans weren’t monolithic.

“We have disagreements in the Swiftie fandom. We can’t even agree on which is the better album, ‘Folklore’ or ‘Evermore.’ Right?” Donovan said.

Wing, who admitted to trying to score a Chiefs ticket to Thursday’s game with the Denver Broncos in Kansas City, Missouri, said the Kelsey and Swift alliance created a bizarre intersection of footballers and Swifties. Swift loyalists have scrambled to attend home and road games of the Chiefs to be close to Swift, she said, but some hard-core NFL people expressed alarm Swift might take Kelce’s mind off catching passes from Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

“The idea that she’s bringing down the NFL in any way is just laughable,” Wing said. “There’s a lot you could say about gender there, too.”

Kansas Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kansas Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sherman Smith for questions: info@kansasreflector.com. Follow Kansas Reflector on Facebook and Twitter.