The media establishment, populated by old hippies and young socialists, views Taylor Swift’s unusual synthesis of (relative) personal discipline and artistic promotion of hedonist values as their ideal for a cultural ambassador to middle America. Said more simply: she isn’t a total trainwreck like many young pop stars but sings about AND promotes the stuff they like, e.g., abortion on demand and the abidcation of personal responsibility.
So when Donald Trump said he hated her after Swift’s endorsement of Kamala Harris, the establishment reacted with bemused delight. One publication even wondered if it would lead to Trump’s downfall, and many right-of-center talking heads lamented what they perceived as Trump taking the bait. Even Bill O’Reilly advised him to back off.
They still don’t get it. In fairness, I sometimes forget that Trump’s instincts are usually superior to that of your average politico.
A brand new New York Times/Siena College poll conducted in mid-September found the Trumpster with a a 47% favorability rating while Swift languished at a mere 42%.
Yes, that’s right… the Orange Man is more liked (or less disliked, depending upon your perspective) than Tay Tay. And it’s not an isolated finding; another poll in battleground North Carolina found Swift’s popularity sagging badly in the wake of her decision to come out for Kamala.
A separate survey found that Gen Z men – who appear to be trending in Trump’s direction while their female contemporaries move in the opposite direction – share Trump’s disdain for the entertainment industry’s biggest act:
Could all of this backfire? By driving young women to the polls?
I guess, assuming young men don’t vote. But polling suggests there are very, very few undecided voters left on the table, and if Trump’s dislike of Taylor Swift connects with young men who are tired of being treated like dog shit by a culture that reveres Swift, a woman who’s made gazillions of dollars singing about how shitty men are?
Then the former president might once again prove that he understands something about America and Amercians that few others – especially in the halls of power – presently seem to grasp.
