Taylor Swift: 'You’re a Democrat? Sick. Get in the Car. We’re Going to the Mall'

Long have we waited for the day that Taylor Swift declare herself a politics wonk, and today is that day.

In an interview with Rolling Stone published Wednesday, Swift declared herself a proud Democrat who hates white supremacy and wants to get involved in the 2020 presidential election.

Asked by interviewer Brian Hiatt about a white supremacist website and other far-right voices holding Swift up as an “Aryan goddess,” Swift said she didn’t know that had ever happened and was swift to condemn it. From the magazine:

I didn’t even see that, but, like, if that happened, that’s just disgusting. There’s literally nothing worse than white supremacy. It’s repulsive. There should be no place for it.

She continued by talking about her newfound obsession with politics, and how prior to her foray into doing the right thing, she was a bit ambivalent about politics. (In part, I’m sure, because being a white celebrity comes with a stronger pair of rose-colored glasses, nothing we haven’t heard before.) From Rolling Stone again:

Really, I keep trying to learn as much as I can about politics, and it’s become something I’m now obsessed with, whereas before, I was living in this sort of political ambivalence, because the person I voted for had always won. We were in such an amazing time when Obama was president because foreign nations respected us. We were so excited to have this dignified person in the White House. My first election was voting for him when he made it into office, and then voting to re-elect him. I think a lot of people are like me, where they just didn’t really know that this could happen.

I have to say, compared to the 2016 election during which Swift only posted a paltry “go vote” Instagram photo on Election Day, We Love It!!!

That’s not to say Swift fully understands what’s at stake. She also told the magazine a few hmmm things about the Democrats needing to be “more of a team” and “stick together.”

“We need to stop dissecting why someone’s on our side or if they’re on our side in the right way or if they phrased it correctly,” she told Rolling Stone. “We need to not have the right kind of Democrat and the wrong kind of Democrat. We need to just be like, ‘You’re a Democrat? Sick. Get in the car. We’re going to the mall.’”

Swift has been criticized for not hitting the mark even with good intentions, so I see this as her speaking from a place of experience. But yikes, she needs to operate above a Politics 101 level! That’s not to say she’s a lost cause—just wait until she becomes a dedicated Splinter reader!!!

So is Swift gonna go full Katy Perry-Lena Dunham and go all in for, say, Elizabeth Warren? Perhaps not, from the magazine again (emphasis theirs):

But I’m just focused on the 2020 election. I’m really focused on it. I’m really focused on how I can help and not hinder. Because I also don’t want it to backfire again, because I do feel that the celebrity involvement with Hillary’s campaign was used against her in a lot of ways.

You took a lot of heat for not getting involved. Does any part of you regret that you just didn’t say “fuck it” and gotten more specific when you said to vote that November?

Totally. Yeah, I regret a lot of things all the time. It’s like a daily ritual.

There are worse things than the idea that Swift might go all-in for Joe Biden. But not many!