Donald Trump has dismissed Taylor Swift’s endorsement of his election rival, but it seems his campaign is still hoping to take advantage of her image for support. On Thursday, his campaign announced new Trump shirts that are brazen knockoffs of Swift’s “Eras” tour poster.
The T-shirts, which sell for $36, include a Trump image in the foreground, with different photos of him on a grid in the background. The design is an imitation of the poster for Swift’s billion-dollar-grossing tour, which is also sold on T-shirts and various other merchandise. Trump’s campaign touted the product on X, calling it a “Trump Era shirt.”
It’s unclear what, if any, legal action Swift could take against Trump, who is already facing a host of notices from musicians and their estates to stop using their music at his campaign events. Swift is famously cautious about her public image, and her publicist is known to be intensely protective. Swift has yet to respond publicly to the campaign’s promotion.
But the pettiness of the move suggests the former president may be more agitated by Swift’s endorsement of Kamala Harris than he has let on. Last week, Trump suggested to Fox News that Swift’s endorsement would affect her success “in the marketplace” and said that he was not a fan.
“I actually like Mrs. Mahomes much better, if you want to know the truth,” Trump said, referring to Brittany Mahomes, the wife of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and a friend of Swift’s who publicly expressed her support for Trump. “She’s a big Trump fan. I was not a Taylor Swift fan.”
Yet Trump has gone to lengths to use Swift’s popularity to his benefit. In August, he posted on Truth Social multiple AI-generated images of the pop star and her fans, known as “Swifties,” supporting him. Swift said in her endorsement of Harris that she was motivated to do so in part because of those fake images, writing, “It brought me to the conclusion that I need to be very transparent about my actual plans for this election as a voter.” Swift has spoken up against Trump a handful of times over the years. Earlier this year, however, Trump said he did not believe Swift would endorse President Joe Biden in 2024 because in 2018 Trump signed bipartisan legislation to reform copyright law, arguing that she would not “be disloyal to the man who made her so much money.” (This despite the fact Swift previously endorsed Biden in 2020.) Trump has also expressed disbelief that “a country star can be successful being liberal” (Swift started out making country music but has since moved into a decidedly pop direction) and asked if “she is liberal, or is that just an act?”
Clarissa-Jan Lim is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW. She was previously a senior reporter and editor at BuzzFeed News.
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