Taylor Swift hasn't endorsed Trump or Harris. Why do we care who she votes for?
There are three major players in the 2024 race for the U.S. presidency — and one of them is a pop star.
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have dominated the news cycle late this summer with crowded cross-country rallies as cable news roundtables gather to dissect their every move. But it's Taylor Swift, one of music's most influential figures, that is sparking conversations about the intersection of politics and pop culture.
Swift fans — known as "Swifties" — are debating whether the Pennsylvania-born singer-songwriter will endorse a candidate in the November presidential election as the former California senator and New York businessman's respective campaigns squabble over their own Sept. 10 debate.
The discourse is raising new questions in Hollywood and beyond about what celebrities owe the public. Now, experts are weighing in on the boundaries between fans and the country's biggest stars — and why we care about the endorsement.
Why experts think Taylor Swift's presidential endorsement is so coveted
Swift has been famous for nearly 20 years, dating back to her 2006 self-titled debut album. Still, Swift has been swift to avoid wading into controversial topics.
She used clear explicit language in her music for the first time on her 2017 album "Reputation" at 27. She addressed race for the first time in her lyricism this April, amid the release of her new album, (and garnered backlash) when she sang in her track "I Hate It Here" that she'd pick to live in the 1830s "without all the racists and getting married off for the highest bid."
Why Taylor Swift's 'all the racists' lyric on 'I Hate It Here' is dividing fans, listeners
She has publicly endorsed three candidates in her career: 2018 Tennessee senate candidate Phil Bredesen, U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper in his re-election bid to Tennessee's 5th Congressional District in 2018, and President Joe Biden in the 2020 race for president. So, why do we want Swift, a largely apolitical pop star, to share her personal stances? A lack of boundaries between fans and celebrities, according to Kristin Lieb, an Emerson College professor.
Taylor Swift draws backlash for 'all the racists' lyrics on new 'Tortured Poets' album
"Knowing who someone is voting for is pretty personal, that's why we have to draw the curtains in the voting booth, or increasingly, seal our votes in envelopes and mail them in," Lieb says, adding that "in general, people in the United States are advised not to talk about politics or religion at work or when we don't know people well, but stars are somehow expected to provide on-demand answers to questions about their private lives as demanded by fans."
Aria Halliday, a cultural critic and professor at the University of Kentucky, agrees: "We don't expect people in our everyday lives to stand outside and tell everyone their business, right? And so we shouldn't expect that of celebrities either."
Taylor Swift experts address why we want an endorsement from the pop star
Experts in branding and psychology are raising new questions about the pitfalls of fan culture — and why celebrities that possess unlimited influence like Swift are targets for uncomfortable boundary-pushing.
Alexandra Wormley, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Michigan and social psychologist, created buzz for her course at Arizona State University that studied the psychology of Swift and her superstardom. In an emailed exchange with USA TODAY, Wormley said this fan behavior is due to parasocial relationships, which she defined as "one-sided social relationships we have with celebrities, TV characters, or other public figures (real or not)."
"When celebrities post on social media, just like our friends do, we begin to feel like they're our friends as well; this is especially potent when celebrities post 'authentic' or 'candid' content. And we want to hold our friends accountable," Wormley said.
She added that "when we spend time online 'hanging out with' celebrities, then we want them to reflect positively back on us. Sometimes, we might feel that it requires us to hold them accountable and that leaves them open to criticism."
Stephanie Burt, a literary critic who teaches a course on Swift at Harvard University, also attributed the craving for an endorsement to parasocial relationships, which she described as mutual between Swift and her fans.
"A lot of us would like to see Kamala win, Trump lose, and we think her endorsement would help," Burt told USA TODAY, adding that in parasocial relationships "we want to see our friends endorse our actions and agree with us on anything that matters to us."
Taylor Swift previously endorsed Biden-Harris ticket in 2020 one month before election
Burt's comments come as Swifties vie for Swift's endorsement — and the candidates do, too. As some of her fans form "Swifties for Trump" and "Swifties for Kamala" factions, Trump's campaign is getting involved, too.
In August, Trump took to Truth Social and posted several purportedly AI-generated images alluding to Swift and Swifties' support for his campaign, despite the singer vocalizing disdain for the Republican nominee in the past.
"Taylor wants you to vote for Donald Trump," read one AI-generated image of Swift as Uncle Sam, while another seemingly AI image, marked as satire, read, "Swifties turning to Trump after ISIS foiled Taylor Swift concert." The latter image referenced a suspected terrorist plot planned for Swift's Vienna concert in August. Austrian authorities, with help from U.S. officials, thwarted the alleged attack.
'The change we need': Taylor Swift endorses Joe Biden, Kamala Harris with some custom cookies
But in 2020, Swift's took sides and the "Blank Space" on her ballot wasn't filled with "Trump." On Oct. 7, 2020, one month before the presidential election, she announced her endorsement of Biden. She took to X, sharing a photo of custom Biden-Harris cookies she baked, writing "Gonna be watching and supporting @KamalaHarris by yelling at the tv a lot. And I also have custom cookies" for the then-VP's debate against Mike Pence.
“I will proudly vote for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in this year’s presidential election," Swift, 30, declared in a 2020 issue of V Magazine. "Under their leadership, I believe America has a chance to start the healing process it so desperately needs."
Cultural critics say fan documentaries, intimate sharing leads to boundary pushing
Documentaries like Swift's Netflix film "Miss Americana," which documented her one-time downfall after a feud with Kim Kardashian and Ye, formerly Kanye West, explored a series of intimate themes amid her personal reimagining including her decision to endorse in Tennessee's 2018 Senate race. But some experts like Lieb say the intimacy creates a false relationship that leads fans to push past personal boundaries.
"When some top artists have put everything out there, there's no distinction between their brand and their self, right? And so, what's being sold in these sort of documentaries or interviews that ask for more and more of someone's sort of central, you know, identity ... I think what's being sold is actually their soul," Lieb told USA TODAY.
'Miss Americana': 5 Taylor Swift moments that will make you a fan (if you're not already)
She continued: "And that is something that shouldn't be for sale ever."
Swift is a billion-dollar business. But experts say even music megastars have business hours.
"People relate to her and her persistence and the sort of continuous examination of self that like runs through the songs," Lieb says. "But that doesn't mean she's inviting you into the dinner party at her house. It might feel like that, but that's strategically constructed."
Contributing: Kofi Mframa, Cydney Henderson
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Taylor Swift hasn't endorsed Trump or Harris. What does she owe us?
