It must be 2009 again, because we’re in the middle of a war between Taylor Swift and Kanye West.
The iconic pop singer came out after an extended silence on politics to announce her support for the Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate race in Tennessee. “I cannot support Marsha Blackburn,” she wrote. “Her voting record in Congress appalls and terrifies me.”
Days later, West was the one getting all the attention. He visited the White House and met with President Trump in the Oval Office to discuss prison reform. However, in true Kanye fashion, he decided to flex in front of the cameras.
“One of the moves that I love that liberals try to do — the liberal would try to control a black person through the concept of racism, because they know that we are very proud, emotional people,” West told reporters during a White House pool spray. “So, when I said ‘I like Trump’ to, like, someone that’s liberal, they’ll say, ‘Oh, but he’s racist.’ You think racism could control me? Oh, that don’t stop me. That’s an invisible wall.”
MSNBC anchor Stephanie Ruhle called West’s visit to the Oval Office “an assault on our White House.” Meanwhile, her co-host Ali Velshi called it “bonkers.” CNN anchor Don Lemon said what he witnessed was a “minstrel show.”
With regards to Swift, President Trump said he liked her music “25 percent less now.” Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk lamented that his favorite thing about the pop singer was that she stayed away from politics.
It should be noted that no one should really care what celebrities say in the realm of politics. Some of them are smart; most of them are dumb. The fact that both Taylor Swift and Kanye West continue to make people’s heads explode with their respective politics might be one of the more problematic parts about our political discourse.
Swift and West aren’t political experts. They’re simply average citizens with their own opinions. They certainly have great influence among their fans in pushing policy agenda items into the public foray. But beyond that, they don’t have nearly as big an impact as they think they do.
The idol worship of celebrities certainly contributed to the rise of Trump in the 2016 election. So, if you’re tired of celebrities dictating political discourse in America, do yourself a favor and ignore them.
