Two convoluted, unrelated political events paved the way for Donald Trump’s decisive victory. Ultimately, both contributed to creation of the Trump vs. Taylor Swift Era — two mega-powerful people who know how to “Shake It Off,” representing gender battles from opposite ends of the political playing field.
Both are skilled in the art of media domination and influencing their untold millions of followers.
The first set of events occurred when then-Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell used partisan political rationalization to discourage his Senate caucus from achieving the two-thirds vote needed to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial. At that time, McConnell and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) could have drawn up legislation prohibiting Trump from holding future public office. McConnell’s history-altering inaction made Trump’s resurgence possible.
The second circumstance was Biden’s wrong-headed, ego-driven strategic decision to seek reelection. This prevented a competitive Democratic primary, wherein a stronger candidate could have emerged to contest a then-weak and legally challenged Trump. Fate intervened over the summer. Biden, already fading in the polls after his feeble debate performance in late June, was forced out of the race three months before Election Day. Vice President Kamala Harris stepped in overnight. Not only was she soundly defeated, but she failed to outperform Biden’s 2020 performance in any state.
But one area where Harris did outshine Biden and Trump was with celebrity endorsements. True to form, Trump turned Harris’s star power advantage into a liability when he exclaimed, “We don’t need a star because we have a policy.”
Enter Taylor Swift, arguably the most famous star in the world. On Sept. 10, the singer dropped a pop-culture-meets-politics bombshell on her 280 million Instagram followers when she endorsed Kamala Harris, writing, “I think she is a steady-handed, gifted leader, and I believe we can accomplish so much more in this country if we are led by calm and not chaos.”
Nevertheless, Trump’s victorious “unprecedented mandate” proved that Americans prefer a machismo leadership style that embraces chaos over calm.
Swift’s endorsement of Harris and her Election Day voting instructions to legions of fans is symbolic and emblematic of a schism that will play out until Trump leaves office. Both Swift and Trump are well-versed in the art of “See What You Made Me Do” — annihilating their enemies and emerging victorious and stronger than ever, even after being down.
In the Trump vs. Taylor Swift Era, there are bound to be political collisions between the pop icon and the president, reflecting the polarized state of America and the fallout from three pre-Election Day showdowns.
Swift’s endorsement of Harris offered clues about Trump’s victory, downplayed or overlooked by the unabashedly pro-Harris media. On Sept. 19, nine days after her endorsement, a major national poll found that Swift was viewed unfavorably by 60 percent of Republicans but favorably by 70 percent of Democrats. Overall, the singer’s favorable rating was only 44 percent. This implied an endorsement backlash which, in hindsight, presaged Harris’s defeat.
Trump swiftly and negatively reacted to Taylor’s Sept. 10 public support of Harris. During a Fox News Channel show on Sept. 11, Trump said Swift would “probably pay a price for it in the marketplace.” Then, in a Sept. 15 Truth Social post, Trump exclaimed in a juvenile four-word all-caps rant, “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!” That outburst generated universally critical national and international headlines while she continued to sell out stadiums on her record-breaking Eras Tour.
The third pre-Election Day showdown between the two concerned fake images and messages. On Aug. 19, Trump shared a powerful fake of Swift endorsing him, showing her dressed as Uncle Sam, accompanied by the false statement, “Taylor wants you to vote for Donald Trump.” After seeing more fake images of her fans supporting Trump, he responded, “I accept.”
Studies show that viewers of fake media don’t care if the content they see or hear is bogus as long as its message is compatible with what they want to believe or already believe. In that vein, fake images across communications platforms are a widespread problem that specifically affected Swift’s decision to endorse Harris.
Moving forward, in this new Trump versus Swift Era, where “Everything has Changed” and both the president and pop queen are “Bigger Than The Whole Sky,” we can expect future deepfake incidents to result in more “Bad Blood.”
Of course, as president, Trump will have the power to inflict secret damage upon her. (See the invasive IRS audit of former FBI Director James Comey.) The question is, will Trump seek revenge for Swift’s disloyalty? Or is his targeted retribution list already long enough?
What if Swift writes a song that Trump perceives to be about him (true or not), or perhaps a protest song aimed at his actions or policies? That makes one wonder how politically involved Swift will become. Will she risk infuriating Trump with all the attention she could garner? For example, suppose Trump begins to make good on what many believe is his controversial vow to round up migrants and build large detention camps before implementing mass deportations. In that case, many Americans may find those images shocking, and Swift might feel pressure to engage. Will Swift be among those who “Speak Now” if Trump pursues his threat “to strip broadcast networks of their licenses because of coverage he disapproves of?”
Never has a president entered office with such an extensive revenge agenda. And Swift is powerful enough to be potentially characterized by Trump as “the enemy within.” Fortunately, she has the resources to fight back and draw massive attention to Trump’s most controversial actions in what many consider a presidency without guard rails after the Supreme Court ruling granted immunity to virtually all presidential acts.
Well-established is that, sometimes, when celebrities get bored with entertainment, they run for public office, and since 1980, Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump have twice won the White House.
“Are You Ready For It?” Let the Trump vs. Taylor Swift era begin!
Myra Adams is an opinion writer who served on the creative team of two Republican presidential campaigns in 2004 and 2008.
