Taylor Swift is facing, ahem, swift backlash from fans for her association with Brittany Mahomes, an outspoken supporter of Donald Trump and wife to Kansas City Chiefs’ quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who is her boyfriend Travis Kelce‘s teammate and best friend.
The two were spotted embracing at the final day of the US Open yesterday, following much speculative murmur online about the status of their closeness. Trouble began brewing over the weekend, as the National Football League 2024 season kicked off with a Sept. 5 win by the Chiefs against the Baltimore Ravens with Swift in attendance. Countless articles appeared in publications, from varying focus given to the presumed distance between Mahomes and Swift — as they did not sit together in a shared box as they have done in the past — at the inaugural game to their much-trumpeted hug on Sept. 8, which signaled to folks that rumors of a seeming feud were quashed.
Namely, fans of the Grammy-winning, multiplatinum artist took issue with Swift’s outspoken rhetoric against Trump in her 2020 documentary Miss Americana, during which she stated, “I need to be on the right side of history.” The crux of the film followed Swift’s soul-searching as an artist with a sizable, influential platform and her decision — not supported by her PR team, family and managers — to engage in political discourse, including standing up for women’s and LGBTQ+ rights. In the emotional video, she expressed regret that she did not get politically involved and vocal ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
She tweeted at the time, “After stoking the fires of white supremacy and racism your entire presidency, you have the nerve to feign moral superiority before threatening violence? ‘When the looting starts the shooting starts’??? We will vote you out in November. @realdonaldtrump.”
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Some fans resurfaced the tweet, singling out the disparity between Swift’s words and lack of action: “not a word about Palestine. not a word about trump using your face to promote him. not a word about LGBTQ+ laws over the last few years, or anything happening in your home state. besties with a SA [sexual assault] apologist & an endorsed trump supporter. this tweet & 2019 you are such a joke wow!” (Another user linked previous articles and tweets from Mahomes that included her piling on Swift for writing about nothing other than “boys and relationships,” the support she received from Trump for her endorsement and her defense of her brother-in-law amid his sexual assault allegations.)
For his part, Trump has used the association to his benefit ahead of the presidential election, posting AI-generated fake images of Swift and claiming a false, growing “Swifties for Trump” movement. At this time, Swift, who publicly supported president Joe Biden in the 2020 election, has not come forward with support for either Trump or Democratic nominee and current VP Kamala Harris.
“hey @taylorswift13 you dropped this,” one user wrote on X, attaching a picture of a spine. The theme was repeated on X numerous times, as even the bot account that shares lyrics from Swift’s Midnights posted the pointed lyric: “spineless in my tomb of silence,” a reference to the track “The Great War.”
One fan referenced the lyrics from “peace,” a song from the acclaimed folklore that is debated to be about ex-boyfriend and actor Joe Alwyn: “Your integrity makes me seem small / You paint dreamscapes on the wall / I talk sh– with my friends / It’s like I’m wasting your honor.” The individual wrote, “She herself did say Joe Alwyn’s integrity made her seem small. Guess she found a man where that isn’t a problem.”
Another said, “i don’t expect a billionaire to lead the revolution or anything i’m just confused as to why one would make a movie about standing up for what’s right at any cost only to literally never stand for anything again.”
See further reactions below:
