Kanye West might’ve won the battle back in 2009 when he poached Taylor Swift’s VMAs acceptance speech, but Swift is currently winning the war.
For the first time, the reputation singer vocalised her political opinions and announced that she’d be voting for two Democrats, Phil Bredesen for Senate and Jim Cooper for House of Representatives, in the upcoming midterm elections in Tennessee. Swift has been notoriously silent on all political matters in the past, a move that’s drawn plenty of criticism.
What better time to drop a checkmate than when your MAGA-endorsing rivals, who have been throwing jabs at you for years, alienate a vast majority of their fans with their controversial statements and meetings with Trump? Answer: there is no better time.
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“In the past, I’ve been reluctant to publicly voice my political opinions, but due to several events in my life and in the world in the past two years, I feel very differently about that now,” Swift wrote on Instagram. “I always have and always will cast my vote based on which candidate will protect and fight for the human rights I believe we all deserve in this country.”
While some artists such as Donald Glover and Eminem used their most recent musical releases to share their feelings about the current state of America, Swift used her most recent one to take a deep dive inward and to throw salt at her frenemies (ahem, Kimye). While reputation had some catchy singles catchy, it was also widely criticised for being extremely tone deaf. Sort of like Swift focused inward and seemed to have completely forgotten that the world was practically on fire. She was watching though, we now see.
Many questioned her views after she failed to publicly take a side during the 2016 presidential election or denounce President Donald Trump, like many of her celebrity peers. And while she still technically hasn’t, this latest showing of support not only for Democratic candidates but for LGBTQ rights, women’s rights and fighting against systematic racism proves that the old, non-political Taylor Swift is officially dead.
Intentional strategy on Swift’s part or not, it’s safe to say that she’s currently winning the Kimye feud – or maybe (read: hopefully) moving beyond this rivalry once and for all.