“F you, Taylor Swift!” shouted Megyn Kelly, “and f all of the people who want to see these children have body parts chopped off.”
For those not fluent in Republican crazy-speak, Kelly’s meltdown was triggered by Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Kamala Harris the night before, barely one hour after Trump all but face-planted on the debate stage. Kelly was especially triggered by Swift highlighting her appreciation for vice presidential nominee Tim Walz’s support of LGBTQ+ rights.
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Other right-wing commentators, like Ben Shapiro, took another approach: making fun of Swifties. “Note: if you vote for a particular candidate because your favorite singer is doing so, please don’t vote. You are too stupid to vote,” wrote Shapiro on X. Meanwhile, Elon Musk, the richest man on the planet, threatened to impregnate her.
Which is hilarious since the main source of income for musicians ever since streaming took off is live shows and merch… albums are a vehicle to drive attendance at concerts, for which Swift is pretty good at packing stadiums full of people. Even if she loses 30% of her listeners, she’ll still sell out concerts and total revenue would likely be about the same because those seats will be taken up by other fans who would have otherwise missed out on the sold-out show.