Taylor Swift’s fans and detractors would likely agree on one thing about her: There is little-to-nothing that the world’s most famous performer does without intention and forethought. This extends to her forays into political activity. She endorsed a Democratic candidate for senate in Tennessee in the 2018 midterms; framed the promotion of her album “Lover” around well-meaning if muddled pro-LGBTQ sentiments in 2019; and then endorsed Joe Biden for President in 2020. The 2018 endorsement in particular marked a watershed for Swift — it was the first time she’d spoken directly about electoral politics. Netflix’s 2020 feature-length documentary about Swift, “Miss Americana,” hinges on this decision; in it, she tells her father, who’s opposed to her speaking out, “I need to be on the right side of history.”
Does she feel the same need today? While there is time to go before the Nov. 5 presidential election, Swift has remained silent thus far. Unusually protective of her likeness even by the standards of celebrity, Swift let Donald Trump’s use of A.I.-generated images falsely suggesting she endorsed him go by unremarked-upon; unusually willing to leverage high-profile friendships to show different sides of her, she’s chilling at the U.S. Open with Brittany Mahomes, whom Trump has thanked for her support.
Swift seems from one angle to have no more responsibility to speak out than any other high-profile person — perhaps she might argue she has a responsibility to remain silent. In her only public comments addressing the foiled plot to stage a terrorist attack on a planned concert in Vienna, Swift wrote on Instagram: “Let me be very clear: I am not going to speak about something publicly if I think doing so might provoke those who would want to harm the fans who come to my shows.” Her Eras Tour is to continue through December, after the election; it is not unreasonable to think that Swift speaking out on a highly contested race might come with some element of risk. (Indeed, that was one of the arguments put to her in favor of staying silent in her documentary.)
But one returns to the documentary, in fact, to see why the idea of Swift riding out the rest of the year in silence would feel, frankly, strange. Swift’s political action, in the past, came from what is evidently a place of deep passion; in “Miss Americana,” she weeps on camera describing the Republican Party’s agenda. But then — it’s happening on camera, in a film Swift agreed to appear in at an in-between moment in her career. Speaking out came with a risk — it was also, ultimately, good for the brand, at a moment that said brand was very much in flux. “Lover,” the album that contains the would-be gay-rights anthem “You Need to Calm Down,” was off of Swift’s creative peak as she sought to move beyond the pure pop extravaganzas of “1989” and “Reputation”; she has righted the ship, and then some, with more consistent material in recent years. Having gone from major artist to among the biggest acts in the history of recorded music, Swift simply has more at risk now.
Elements of 2024 look different from 2020 beyond Swift’s own career; while the 2020 election was more closely contested even than Biden voters may have realized before election day, it was an unsettled moment in which Trump, the incumbent president, faced the winds of change. It might be easier and more palatable for an artist to be against the party in power than to have to defend it, particularly given the unprecedented candidate switch that was a response to Biden’s age and his perceived capability. And it remains an open question how much celebrity endorsements help at all; few if any campaigns have been more bedecked with stars than Hillary Clinton’s in 2016, and it was, if anything, counterproductive.
But maybe Swift is different: Her words — in part because she weighs them with great care — move culture in a startling and profound way. (She’s clearly aware of their impact, using her appearance in “Miss Americana” to note that she regretted not speaking up in 2016, a decision for which she was widely criticized. That past comment may signal, perhaps, that her endorsement may be forthcoming at a moment closer to the election.) A statement from her would likely make Charli XCX’s “kamala IS brat” tweet look like a random Reddit comment; this reality may suggest why the fantasy that Swift was going to speak at or perform at the Democratic National Convention compelled so many.
And while it may yet happen — her 2020 endorsement was in early October — her signaling that silence is a preferable option, and her high-profile friendship with Mahomes, are at least suggestive, given how little Swift does by accident. Given, though, how much mileage Swift got in the past out of her decision to speak out on politics, the idea that she will remain silent would seem to make her past speaking out, at a more convenient moment, appear cynical. It’d be regrettable if her engagement with the world of politics were just another of her eras, and one from which she were willing to move on.
