Taylor Swift Didn’t Support Trump or Kamala. What Does She Owe Us?

The 2024 US presidential race features three major players — and one of them is a pop star.

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump dominated the news cycle late this summer with packed rallies across the country, where TV roundtables gathered to analyze their every move. But it’s Taylor Swift, one of the most influential figures in music, who is sparking conversations about the intersection of politics and popular culture.

Swift’s fans — known as “Swifties” — are debating whether the Pennsylvania-born singer-songwriter will endorse a candidate in the November presidential election, while the campaigns of the former California senator and the former New York businessman are bickering over their Sept. 10 debate.

The debate is raising new questions in Hollywood and beyond about what stars owe the public. Now, experts weigh in on the lines between fans and the country’s biggest stars — and why we care this support.

Why Experts Say Taylor Swift’s Presidential Election Endorsement Is So Desirable

Swift has been famous for nearly 20 years, dating back to her 2006 debut album of the same name. Despite that, Swift has been quick to avoid discussing controversial topics.

She first used explicit, explicit language in her music on her 2017 album Reputation at age 27. She first addressed race in her lyrics in April of this year, amid the release of her new album (and the backlash it received), when she sang on her song “I Hate It Here” that she would have chosen to live in the 1830s “without racists and marrying off at the highest bidder.”

Why Taylor Swift is “Everything Racist” “I Hate It Here” lyrics divide fans and listeners

She has publicly endorsed three candidates in her career: 2018 Tennessee Senate candidate Phil Bredesen, U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper in his 2018 re-election bid to Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District, and President Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential race. So why do we want Swift, a largely apolitical pop star, to share her personal stances? There are no boundaries between fans and celebrities, according to Kristin Lieb, a professor at Emerson College.

Taylor Swift faces criticism “All the racists” – lyrics on the new album “Tortured Poets”

“Knowing who someone is voting for is quite personal, which is 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 “generally, people in the United States are advised not to talk about politics or religion at work or when they don’t know people well, but celebrities are expected to provide some form of on-demand answers to questions about their personal lives as requested 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 around and tell everyone about their business, right? And we shouldn’t expect celebrities to do that either.”

Taylor Swift Experts Explain Why We Need an Endorsement from the Pop Star

Experts in branding and psychology raise new questions about the pitfalls of fan culture—and why stars with limitless influence like Swift fall victim to uncomfortable boundary crossings.

Alexandra Wormley, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Michigan and a social psychologist, has been generating buzz around her course at Arizona State University that explored Swift’s psychology and superstardom. In an email exchange with USA TODAY, Wormley said this fan behavior stems from parasocial relationships, which she defined as “one-sided social relationships we have with celebrities, TV characters, or other public figures (whether real or not).”

“When celebrities post on social media like our friends do, we start to feel like they’re our friends too; this is especially strong when celebrities post ‘authentic’ or ‘honest’ content. And we want our friends to be accountable,” Wormley said.

She added that “when we spend time online, ‘hanging out’ with celebrities, we want them to look at us positively. Sometimes we can feel like this requires us to hold them accountable, which leaves them open to criticism.”

Stephanie Burt, a literary critic who teaches a course on Swift at Harvard University, also connects the need for support with the parasocial relationship she describes as mutual between Swift and her fans.

“A lot of us would like Kamala to win, Trump to lose, and we think her support would help,” Burt told USA TODAY, adding that in parasocial relationships, “we want our friends to support what we do and agree with us on every issue that matters to us.”

Taylor Swift previously endorsed Biden and Harris’ 2020 candidacy a month before the election

Burt’s comments come as Swifties scramble to endorse Swift — and candidates do, too. While some of her fans are forming “Swifties for Trump” and “Swifties for Kamala” factions, the Trump campaign is also getting involved.

In August, Trump used the website Truth Social to post several images allegedly generated by AI that referenced Swift and Swifties’ support for his campaign, despite the singer having expressed disdain for the Republican candidate in the past.

“Taylor wants you to vote for Donald Trump,” read one AI-generated image of Swift as Uncle Sam, while another image, labeled as satire and likely created by AI, read, “Swifties turn to Trump after ISIS thwarts Taylor Swift concert.” The latter image referred to a suspected terrorist plot planned for Swift’s concert in Vienna in August. Austrian authorities, with the help of U.S. officials, thwarted the alleged attack.

“The Change We Need”: Taylor Swift Endorses Joe Biden and Kamala Harris with Special Cookies

But in 2020, Swift chose sides, and the “blank space” on her ballot was not filled by “Trump.” On Oct. 7, 2020, a month before the presidential election, she announced her support for Biden. She went all out on the X by sharing a photo of Biden-Harris cookies she had baked, writing, “I’ll be watching and supporting @KamalaHarris, with a lot of yelling at the TV. I also have cookies” for the then-vice president’s debate with Mike Pence.

“I will proudly vote for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris for president this year,” Swift, 30, told V magazine in its 2020 issue. “I believe that under their leadership, America has the chance to begin the healing process it so desperately needs.”

Cultural critics say fan documentaries and intimate sharing of content lead to boundary crossing

Documentaries like Swift’s Netflix film “Miss Americana,” which chronicled her downfall following feuds with Kim Kardashian and Ye, formerly Kanye West, have explored a range of intimate topics amid her personal musings, including her decision to endorse her 2018 Tennessee Senate race. But some experts, like Lieb, argue that intimacy creates a false connection that leads fans to cross personal boundaries.

“When some of the best artists have put everything out there, there’s no distinction between their brand and themselves, right? And so what’s being sold in these types of documentaries or interviews that demand more and more of someone’s central, you know, identity… I think what’s being sold is really 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 should never have been for sale.”

Swift is a billion-dollar business. But experts say even music stars have work hours.

“People relate to her and her tenacity and the kind of constant self-examination that runs through the songs,” Lieb says. “But that doesn’t mean she’s inviting you to a party at her house. It might seem that way, but it’s strategically constructed.”

Collaborator: Kofi Mframa, Cydney Henderson