Right-Wing Media Hosts Are Freaking Out Over Taylor Swift Telling Fans to Vote

I am a big fan of Taylor Swift and I don’t apologize for it. I love her music and I think her haters are jealous. There, I said it. But objectively, we all have to acknowledge how hugely popular she is. Her swifties (her fan base) are super, super passionate. From her music to her love life to her personal beliefs, her supporters hang on to every word she says and every move she makes. And this scares Conservatives because Taylor has been speaking out more and more in recent years. I know that many of her fans will follow in her footsteps if she encourages something. And now she is doing something very frightening to these right-wing pundits: She is telling fans to vote!

November 7th’s election saw wins for Democrats, despite the media and pundits’ intent on ignoring the Biden administration’s numerous achievements. Republicans have been pointing fingers, and now they are coming for T Swift. This started because Taylor took to Instagram to post about voting. She wrote:

“It’s Election Day! If you are registered to vote in Colorado, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, or Virginia, it’s time to use your voice.” She also posted a link to Vote.org so people could register and find their polling place. How dare she!? I guess conservatives assume most Swift fans are not supportive of their bigoted agenda because Taylor has spoken out about issues that do not align with them. For example, she came out against the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade. She also shared a statement by another woman that scares the GOP: Michelle Obama. So conservative crazies blamed her for their pathetic losses. 

The Business Insider gave a good rundown of some wild takes from Republican pundits. One unhinged reaction came from activist Jack Posobiec. He posted a hodge-podge of right-wing propaganda, writing on X:

“Republicans still haven’t internalized that the Left promotes abortion as a pro-feminism issue. They aren’t voting to kill babies, they’re voting because of feminist movies like Barbie and pop stars like Taylor Swift influencing an army of voters.” 

How dumb do you have to be to think that abortion rights are not a feminist issue? I have said many times, and I stand by it, that if cis men could get pregnant, abortions would be available at Walgreens and CVS. Much of the anti-choice movement is about control and controlling women, specifically. So Posobiec is trying to gaslight us into thinking that women are more concerned with what Swift thinks than with our basic bodily autonomy. It’s SO condescending. He then goes on to mention Barbie, which caused right-wing heads to explode over its feminist message and creeps like Ben Shapiro to burn their Barbies in protest. The call is coming from inside the Mojo Dojo Casa House. So of course these men are coming for Swift for influencing an army of voters. Again, these are just weirdly obsessive takes.

Another right-wing nutjob, Charlie Kirk, went after Taylor Swift and her influence. On his radio talk show the day after the elections on Tuesday, he said that the GOP needs to be prepared for Swift’s power over mostly young voters. “Taylor Swift is going to come out in the presidential election and she is going to mobilize her fans,” Kirk whined. He added, “All the Swifties want is swift abortion. That’s what they want. It’s 100%.” Stay mad about it.

The idea that Swift is firing up young people to vote excites me! I hope she can do it. Seeing people like Kirk panicked really makes me happy. They are revealing their true thoughts and they reeks of fear! He also brought up the abortion issue, because it’s easier to attack a successful woman than to acknowledge that abortion bans are a losing issue at the ballot box. Republicans are so scared that young people, mostly women, are going to continue being motivated by anti-choice policies and politicians. Let’s hope so!

I think celebrities should do as much as possible to get folks registered and voting in 2024. Especially with the power of social media, stars like Swift have the power to sway elections for the good. I hope Taylor Swift continues to motivate and scare the you-know-what out of Republicans.

(featured image: Omar Vega/TAS23/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management)