This is an adapted excerpt from the Sept. 12 episode of “Morning Joe.”
Taylor Swift is a cultural icon who’s helped fuel economies around the world with her wildly successful “Eras Tour.” So it’s quite hilarious to me that Donald Trump has now issued a public warning to Swift, threatening that she could “pay a price for it in the marketplace” for her endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris. I highly doubt she wants to take business advice from Trump, it seems her business is doing just fine.
When it comes to the influence of her endorsement, I’m reminded of a focus group I conducted with the Lincoln Democracy Institute earlier this year. We showed a clip from Swift’s documentary “Miss Americana,” where the singer talked about politics with her father. She was debating whether to get involved in the 2018 Tennessee Senate election. The clip was an interesting way to explore how women talk to the men in their lives when it comes to politics.
We know young women are very connected to Swift. They relate to her and they see her as a role model. At her concert, it’s all about having fun and being kind to one another. That kind of attitude echoes what we’ve seen from Harris this election cycle. She’s having fun. She’s likable. With Swift’s endorsement, her young fans could soon be sitting down with their dads and having political conversations. Those dads, who may lean conservative, might be asked by their daughters to have another look at Harris.
Allison Detzel is an editor/producer for MS NOW.
Elise Jordan
Elise Jordan is a political analyst for MSNBC and NBC News. She was a policy adviser to Sen. Rand Paul’s 2016 presidential campaign. During the George W. Bush administration, she worked in the White House Office of Presidential Speechwriting and at the State Department as a speechwriter. Recommended
