If you saw Katie Fang wearing the newest UGGs, would you want to buy them? If you saw Nicole Laeno drinking a Starbucks chai, would you try the drink? Influencers and celebrities’ opinions seem to have an abnormal sway on our opinions, especially on politics.
Taylor Swift completed the European leg of her billion-dollar grossing tour this past summer. While on tour, she received a lot of hate for a unique reason
Many people, including fans, were calling her out for not speaking up about current events affecting the nation and the world, including the Israel-Palestine conflict and the American election. Fans expected Swift to speak up about American politics post the first presidential debate. When she did not, criticism increased.
However, within hours of the Sept. 10 debate, Swift made an Instagram post announcing her endorsement of candidate Kamala Harris. Although most did not expect the endorsement, some suspected it after she endorsed the Biden-Harris campaign in the 2020 election.
In her post, Swift mentioned the AI photo which depicted her endorsing Trump was fake. She stated the reason she is supporting Harris is because she believes “we can accomplish so much more if we are led by calm and not chaos.”
She signed off on the endorsement post as “Taylor Swift Childless Cat Lady,” in response to JD Vance’s, Trump’s Vice-President, ignorant comment on how the U.S. was being run by “Democrats, corporate Oligarchs, and a bunch of childless cat ladies.” Although this statement was said in 2021, Swift calling herself a “Childless Cat Lady” brought a lot of negative attention to JD Vance and Donald Trump.
Due to this endorsement, 337,000 people registered to vote via the link Swift shared with her Instagram account. Swift’s endorsement shows the power and influence of celebrities in politics today.
Thousands of people are being influenced by celebrities due to endorsements similar to Swift’s. This may lead to an unfair American election.
Additionally, due to social media algorithms, we are being informed of biased content. Social media only shows us what we want to see which can cause controversy when we learn
Unfortunately, relying on our favorite stars to make our own opinions has become overly normalized in today’s day and age. However, I believe choosing something as important as a presidential candidate should not be dictated by what your favorite celebrity says.
