Taylor Swift and the political needle | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Saturday
June 14, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
SATURDAY, JUNE 14, 2025
Taylor Swift and the political needle

Splash

BSS/AFP
08 October, 2023, 12:45 pm
Last modified: 08 October, 2023, 12:45 pm

Related News

  • Taylor Swift buys back her first six albums
  • Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres beats Taylor Swift’s Eras
  • Taylor Swift closed her Eras tour on top of the world. Now what?
  • Taylor Swift gifts $197m in bonuses to Eras Tour crew
  • Taylor Swift's Eras Tour wraps as first tour to pass $2b in sales

Taylor Swift and the political needle

BSS/AFP
08 October, 2023, 12:45 pm
Last modified: 08 October, 2023, 12:45 pm
Taylor Swift. Photo: Collected
Taylor Swift. Photo: Collected

Another day, another Taylor Swift media circus: talk of the pop phenomenon is omnipresent, from her forthcoming concert film to her dating life to her wildly successful global tour.

And as the 33-year-old's power grows all-consuming, renewed discussion of her potential political weight has followed.

Swift is taking a break from playing sold-out arenas before heading back on the road for the remainder of her Eras Tour, which is poised to become the first tour to make $1 billion.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

But she's still gracing stadiums, as she cheers on her rumored beau Travis Kelce, a tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs.

The presence of Swift -- who got her start in country before becoming one of pop's most dominant forces -- at two of his games saw television ratings spike and sales of the NFL player's jersey soar 400 percent.

With hundreds of millions of social media followers and a staunchly loyal fan base, she can move any dial with the tiniest of efforts: late last month, Swift encouraged her fans to register to vote, directing them to the nonpartisan nonprofit Vote.org.

The Swifties did not disappoint.

That single message posted on National Voter Registration Day saw the institution record more than 35,000 new registrations, 23 percent more than last year and the most since 2020.

Shortly thereafter, California's Democratic governor Gavin Newsom told the entertainment outlet TMZ that Swift was "using her celebrity for good."

"What she was able to accomplish in getting young people activated to consider that they have a voice and they should have a voice in the next election, I think it's profoundly powerful."

- Political toe-dips -

Swift's toe-dips into politics have been heavily scrutinized, garnering both criticism and praise; her years-long reticence to voice political opinions received the same treatment.

Both the right and the left have long wanted to count her as their own -- but she stayed conspicuously quiet for years, including in 2016 when Donald Trump won the presidency.

Her silence led many critics to speculate Swift was a closet Republican, until 2018, when she broke both her silence and the internet by endorsing the Democratic opponent of far-right politician Marsha Blackburn in Tennessee.

Following her post, even Trump reacted, saying he now liked Swift's music "about 25% less."

Blackburn won anyway, but Swift's comments ushered in a new era for the pop star, who began explaining -- both in her own Netflix documentary and to the press -- that as a young artist catapulted to fame, she struggled to control her own voice.

She said handlers urged her against wading into politics, telling her it could damage her career, particularly in the country music industry, which despite its complexities is often associated with conservatism.

Swift said once she was "remorseful" for not backing Hillary Clinton in 2016, and has since delivered full-throated criticisms of Trump.

She endorsed Joe Biden in 2020, and has conveyed pro-LGBTQ+ messages through her songs and music videos.

And Swift condemned the Supreme Court's reversal last year of the federal right to abortion.

Political scientist David Jackson noted that though Swift took her time before making endorsements, she wasn't the apolitical pop princess many people cast her as, having made clear statements, for example, about the importance of feminism.

"Misogyny is ingrained in people from the time they are born," she told the magazine Maxim in 2015, at age 25.

"So to me, feminism is probably the most important movement that you could embrace, because it's just basically another word for equality."

- 'Holy grail' -

Swift's rumored romance with Kelce has triggered a wave of right-wing vitriol against her, with conservative pundit Tomi Lahren saying the artist has "lefty, liberal, brain-dead political opinions."

Conservatives have similarly attacked Kelce, pointing in particular to his advocacy for Covid-19 vaccines.

For Jackson, who has studied the power of celebrity endorsements, such attacks on a figure of Swift's stature is, on its face, "hilarious."

"They're picking a fight with someone pretty big," the Bowling Green State University professor told AFP.

He said such smear attacks were less about diminishing Swift herself and more about "clout-chasing," or "latching on to her fame trying to get extra views and clicks and links and attention for themselves."

So as the Biden campaign prepares for a likely rematch with Trump, should the president's aides be courting Swift?

"Absolutely," said Jackson. "100 percent."

Given the tight White House races the United States has seen over the past several cycles, "all factors are significant," he said.

"Her celebrity endorsement right now could be considered the holy grail of potential celebrity endorsements."

Taylor Swift / Eras Tour / Pop-star

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Infographic: TBS
    Govt plans incentives for Bangladeshis bringing in foreign investment
  • Missiles launched from Iran are intercepted as seen from Tel Aviv. REUTERS/Jamal Awad
    Iran launches waves of missiles at Israel in response to airstrikes
  • The bus responsible for the accident that left 5 dead and 15 injured in Dinajpur on 14 June 2025. Photo: UNB
    5 dead, 15 injured in Dinajpur road crash

MOST VIEWED

  • Energy adviser Fouzul Kabir Khan with other government officials during a visit to Sylhet gas field on 13 June 2025. Photo: TBS
    I would disconnect gas supply to every home in Dhaka if I could: Energy adviser
  • BNP Acting Chairperson Tarique Rahman and Chief Adviser  Muhammad Yunus meet at Dorchester Hotel in London, UK on 13 June 2025. Photo: CA Press Wing
    National polls possible in 2nd week of February, agree Yunus, Tarique in 'historic' London meeting
  • Rescuers work at the scene of a damaged building in the aftermath of Israeli strikes, in Tehran, Iran, June 13, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
    Tehran retaliates with 100 drones after Israel strikes Iran's nuclear facilities, kills military leaders
  • From fact-checker to fact-checked: CA Press Wing’s turn in the hot seat
    From fact-checker to fact-checked: CA Press Wing’s turn in the hot seat
  • UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus
    Disclosure of unconfirmed Yunus-Starmer meeting shows ‘diplomatic imprudence’: Analysts
  • Flight AI 379 had landed. File Photo: Hindustan Times
    Day after Ahmedabad crash, Air India flight makes emergency landing in Thailand after bomb threat

Related News

  • Taylor Swift buys back her first six albums
  • Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres beats Taylor Swift’s Eras
  • Taylor Swift closed her Eras tour on top of the world. Now what?
  • Taylor Swift gifts $197m in bonuses to Eras Tour crew
  • Taylor Swift's Eras Tour wraps as first tour to pass $2b in sales

Features

Photos: Collected

Kurtis that make a great office wear

19h | Mode
Among pet birds in the country, lovebirds are the most common, and they are also the most numerous in the haat. Photo: Junayet Rashel

Where feathers meet fortune: How a small pigeon stall became Dhaka’s premiere bird market

2d | Panorama
Illustration: Duniya Jahan/ TBS

Forget Katy Perry, here’s Bangladesh’s Ruthba Yasmin shooting for the moon

3d | Features
File photo of Eid holidaymakers returning to the capital from their country homes/Rajib Dhar

Dhaka: The city we never want to return to, but always do

5d | Features

More Videos from TBS

Iran launches 100 missile attacks, US with Israeli support

Iran launches 100 missile attacks, US with Israeli support

13m | TBS World
No Cash in ATMs: System Glitch or Something Deeper?

No Cash in ATMs: System Glitch or Something Deeper?

13h | TBS Today
Iran-Israel military power; who is ahead?

Iran-Israel military power; who is ahead?

15h | TBS World
Did the possibility of an Iran nuclear deal set back after the attack?

Did the possibility of an Iran nuclear deal set back after the attack?

16h | TBS World
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net