Once again, Taylor Swift took center stage when it came to late night. This time around it was due to her recent post urging people to vote on Super Tuesday.
“Today, Taylor Swift got on Instagram and encouraged her 282 million followers to vote. Which backfired when everyone voted for the blank space,” Jimmy Fallon quipped on “The Tonight Show” during his opening monologue.
True to form, Stephen Colbert’s riff on the pop culture story was far more barbed.
“Taylor Swift told her 282 million Instagram followers to vote in Super Tuesday’s primaries, but refrained from endorsing any specific candidates or political party,” “The Late Show” host said Tuesday night. “We haven’t seen a celebrity take a stance this boldly neutral since Rob Lowe went to an NFL game with a hat that said ‘NFL.’”
Colbert is right about Swift’s message being pointedly neutral. On Tuesday the global superstar wrote, “I wanted to remind you guys to vote the people who most represent YOU into power. If you haven’t already, make a plan to vote today.” According to the New York Times, Swift is registered to vote in Tennessee and has already voted in the state.
Swift has a complicated history with politics, largely because of her public neutrality. During the heated 2016 election, Swift refused to endorse either Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump and did not speak out publicly against Trump after the election was over. The singer and songwriter’s silence drew widespread criticism, though she later explained that she stayed silent because Trump was weaponizing celebrity endorsements.
In 2018, Swift endorsed two Tennessee Democrats, and two years later she endorsed President Biden. The current president is also hoping she will endorse him again this election year.
Swift is also at the center of a far right political conspiracy theory that claims the relationship between Swift and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce isn’t real and is instead part of an elaborate scheme to foster support for President Biden. The conspiracy theory has been perpetuated by former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and Fox News.
