The Patriot Post® · Does Taylor Swift's Endorsement Matter?
Most of us listen to music because the artist is talented. We see movies because we want a distraction from reality. We watch sports because we love seeing athletes do things we all wish we could for our hometown or chosen team.
Most Americans would say, probably vigorously so, that we don’t want politics to sully such things. Yet, it keeps happening. Why?
I think there are two reasons. One is that celebrities of whatever genre often mistake our adoration of their talent for our interest in their thoughts on politics. Marinated as they are in the Democrat-dominated echo chamber of the entertainment industry, they must think something like this: If these commoners love my music or my team, why wouldn’t they want to know what I think about the election? Besides, maybe I can change the world.
Two is that, despite our protests to the contrary, we do care. Which political team doesn’t shout from the mountaintops about a celebrity endorsement? Who doesn’t absolutely love it when their favorite singer or quarterback endorses their political views? Heck, I’m still cheering Hulk Hogan’s shirt-ripping performance at the Republican National Convention.
‘Merica!
(Yes, that’s correctly spelled with an “e” and not a “u.”)
All of that brings me to Taylor Swift and Patrick Mahomes, two popular young celebrities on top of the world.
I’ve been a Chiefs fan since before Swift was born, so her dating Travis Kelce, the team’s star tight end and Mahomes’s favorite receiver, has little bearing on my rooting interest.
My wife and daughters are also big Swift fans, even saving up and shelling out for nosebleed seats at one of her concerts last year. She’s an incredibly talented entertainer, and I will neither confirm nor deny that I have a song or two of hers on my playlist. If you must, please feel free to condemn my evangelical Christian family for our supposedly Satanic choices in the comments section, but we’re fans, not cult members.
Anyway, who cares which presidential candidate she likes?
Millions of people, that’s who. The world’s first billionaire musician didn’t issue an utterly predictable Instagram endorsement of Kamala Harris immediately after Tuesday night’s debate because her 284 million followers want her to shut up about politics and sing. Some do, certainly, but probably not most.
Despite a handful of Democrat endorsements, Swift is actually rarely political, and I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s all we hear from her about this election. Yet, her announcement was so precisely timed that it’s hard to think it wasn’t coordinated with the Harris campaign. She didn’t disparage Donald Trump’s supporters, but she clearly doesn’t care much about losing a few fans by picking a side. The true boycott threat comes from the Left in any case.
Here, I’ll pause for a hat tip to The Babylon Bee: “A singer who has made her entire career out of writing songs detailing her horrifically bad choices has announced her choice for President: Kamala Harris.”
Mahomes, on the other hand, just wants to win more football games. He and his wife Brittany were born and raised evangelical Christians in east Texas. In contrast to Swift’s sordid romantic history, they were high school sweethearts who married young. She recently “liked” a social media post about Trump (which he gladly bragged about before and after Swift’s Harris endorsement), and it’s a safe bet that the Mahomes are not left-wingers.
Asked to respond to Swift’s endorsement, however, Patrick gave what I wish was the answer every celebrity gave: “I don’t want my place and my platform to be used to endorse a candidate,” he said. “I think my place is to inform people to get registered to vote. It’s to inform people to do their own research and then make their best decision for them and their family.”
He praised his wife, noting that she “does a lot in the community,” adding that when he’s with other people, “I’m not thinking about their political views or anything like that; I’m thinking about the people and how they treat other people.” He concluded, “In political times, people are going to use stuff here and there, but I can’t let that affect how I go about my business every single day and live my life and try to live it to the best of my ability.”
Patrick Mahomes says he doesn’t believe in endorsing presidential candidates, gets along with everyone regardless of their political opinions. Good for him, honestly, this is Michael Jordan era politics: pic.twitter.com/cUpNP9OIXZ
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) September 11, 2024
What simple but profound thoughts.
By contrast, the Leftmedia buzz after Brittany’s “like” on social media was about whether it would ruin her friendship with Taylor. How could Swift even be seen with her now? they all wondered.
Ask Elton John. Media figures were shocked and dismayed when the “Rocket Man” singer said Trump’s “Rocket Man” nickname for Kim Jong-un was “hilarious.” Worse, he elaborated. “I laughed. I thought that was brilliant,” John said. “I just thought, 'Good on you, Donald.’ … Donald’s always been a fan of mine, and he’s been to my concerts many, many times. So, I mean, I’ve always been friendly toward him, and I thank him for his support. When he did that, I just thought it was hilarious. It made me laugh.”
He’s also not endorsing anyone, saying of his fans, “It’s none of my business how they vote.”
Such controversy is nothing new for John, who sang at Rush Limbaugh’s 2010 wedding. That’s not an endorsement of Elton John. It’s just to say he’s a human treating other humans like humans.
As for other celebrity endorsements, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson isn’t giving one. “I think it’s between me and the ballot box,” Johnson said. Neither is Grammy-winning artist Usher, who told the ladies of “The View” that while he supports Harris, “voting is an individual choice.” And neither is WNBA star Caitlin Clark, who merely said she was just “encouraging people to register to vote” and to do their own research.
How quaint.
Many years ago, basketball GOAT Michael Jordan was asked why he wasn’t more politically outspoken. His response should’ve paved a behavioral pathway for the glitterati going forward: “Republicans buy sneakers, too.”