Taylor Swift appears to have made an enemy of the new president. By endorsing Kamala Harris two months before the US election last year, she made her stance on Donald Trump and his policies well known. So when Swift was booed at the Super Bowl on 9 February, Trump seized the opportunity to get back at her – as if that's a remotely normal or justifiable thing to do.
Before the game started, which saw Swift's boyfriend Travis Kelce's team the Kansas City Chiefs go head to head with the Philadelphia Eagles, the 'Cruel Summer' singer was met by a wave of boos from Eagles fans when her face appeared on the big screen. Other celebrities including Paul Rudd, Adam Sandler and Bradley Cooper all received a neutral reaction and some cheers. Trump, on the other hand, was met with 'loud roars of applause' when his face appeared on the screen. He was also seen doing his controversial salute while the crowd sang the national anthem.
Regardless of Trump's cheers, the fact Swift was booed did not go unnoticed, especially by the singer herself. As a regular attendee of the Kansas City Chiefs games, Swift is usually celebrated in the stands as she watches her boyfriend play. This time, she looked bemused when she realised the boos were aimed at her, before turning to Ice Spice and the Haim sisters who were with her in the stand. Lip reader NJ Hickling told told DailyMail.com that the singer asked, 'Aww what, what's going on?'.
To make matters worse, or rather to make matters petty, Trump relished in Swift's boos and even took to social media to contribute to the pile on. On his Truth Social platform, the president shared a post from 'Libs of TikTok' about the crowd booing Swift, which read 'Trump gets massive cheers at the Super Bowl while Taylor Swift gets booed.' He then shared another one which reads, 'The world is healing!'
Trump's misdirected public rivalry with Swift dates back to 2020. As one of the most successful and influential pop stars in the world, Trump was clearly vying for her support in the run up to the election. So much so that he shared an AI-generated poster declaring her endorsement on X, which read 'Taylor Swift wants you to vote for Trump'. Of course, she didn't and people quickly cottoned on to the fact the poster had nothing to do with Swift at all.
When asked if he was worried that Swift would sue him over the use of her image, Trump said, 'I don’t know anything about [the images], other than somebody else generated them. I didn’t generate them… These were all made up by other people.'
Shortly after the incident, Swift took to Instagram to publicise her support for Harris, as she did for Joe Biden in 2020. 'I will be casting my vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the 2024 presidential election,' she wrote. 'I think she is a steady-handed, gifted leader and I believe we can accomplish so much more in this country if we are led by calm and not chaos.'
How did the future president respond to Swift exercising her democratic right? By writing, 'I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!' on X, of course.
It might be true to form, but Trump's obsession with Swift is bizarre, misogynistic and uncomfortable. If the president took a public stance against every celebrity that does not like him, he wouldn't have much time for anything else. Serena Williams was quick to defend Swift writing, 'I love you @taylorswift13 dont listen to those booo!!' on X.
He's likely to have made an enemy of Kelce now too, who had previously described the president's attendance at the game as 'an honour'. During a press conference before the game, the tight end said, 'I think, you know, no matter who the president is, I know I’m excited because it’s the biggest game of my life, you know, and having the president there, you know, it’s the best country in the world. So, that’d be pretty cool.' After seeing Trump suggest 'the world is healing' after his girlfriend got booed, it's likely his stance might have changed.
Unfortunately for Swift, as the election result proves, Trump has an army of loyal followers – many of whom appear to be Eagles fans. By repeatedly berating Swift on social media or cheering her boos in public, Trump is sending a clear message to his supporters: Swift is not one of us.
Luckily Swift has the biggest fan base of any musician in the world. Her reputation is nothing short of robust and there is no doubt the Swifties will rally around her. Even so, by publicly targeting her time and time again, Trump seems hellbent on depicting her as some sort of political rival, which of course she is not. Trump supporters might not like Swift's music or might have an issue with her as a public figure, but their vitriol towards her in relation to the president is entirely nonsensical.
Swift is a record-breaking music artist who was trying to watch her boyfriend play football, Trump is the newly appointed president of the United States. Does he not have more important things to do?
Nikki Peach is a writer at Grazia UK, working across pop culture, TV and news. She has also written for the i, i-D and the New Statesman Media Group and covers all things TV for Grazia (treating high and lowbrow shows with equal respect).