Right Wingers Are Losing It Over Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce

Nikki McCann Ramirez
·3 min read
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The Kansas City Chiefs delivered a blowout win against the Chicago Bears on Sunday, but it wasn’t the score that left fans breathless. The internet broke over the all-but-confirmation that one Ms. Americana — Taylor Swift — and Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce are starting their very own love story. Swift was spotted enthusiastically cheering on Kelce from a private box at Arrowhead Stadium, in the company of Kelce’s mother, Donna. The pair were later spotted together in the stadium and drove off to dinner in Kelce’s own getaway car.

But not everyone is wishing the rumored couple well. Right-wing commentators just can’t help seeing red at the thought of someone who doesn’t hold their politics finding even a nanoscopic amount of success and happiness.

While Taylor Swift ranks amongst the most well-known and beloved celebrities on the planet, a small but very vocal cohort of conservatives saw their peace broken when Swift declared her opposition to former President Donald Trump, and publicly aligned herself with the pro-choice movement. They’re also not very fond of her rumored boyfriend Kelce, who has supported vaccines.

“What will break Kelce’s heart first? The COVID shot or Taylor Swift?” tweeted Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, throwing in a reference to a commercial Kelce and his mother recently participated in encouraging people to get their annual flu shot and a Covid booster.

Conservative commentator Tomi Lahren also took a dig at Kelce’s encouragement of public health measures. “Is this what happens when you date Taylor Swift?” Lahren tweeted.

Former Fox Sports commentator turned online blowhard Clay Travis took it even further. “Travis Kelce is doing Bud Light and Covid shot commercials. He needs to fire all his marketing agents. Or he needs to just go ahead and cut his dick off, become a chick, and endorse Joe Biden,” Travis wrote.

Right-wing publication The Federalist took the opportunity to repromote an article written earlier this month titled “Taylor Swift’s Popularity Is A Sign Of Societal Decline.” The 2,500 word manifesto written by columnist Mark Hemingway rehashed much of the banal criticism leveled at Swift over the course of her career. Why does she write about her exes so much? Why does she have so many exes? Why does her music not make me, a middle-aged white man who is still obsessed with the Beatles, feel like the primary audience? Federalist co-founder Sean Davis tweeted out the article multiple times on Monday, once with the caption “Taylor Swift is dumb and her music sucks.”

On Fox News the matter was, to be fair, received with general positivity, but network hosts made sure to find ways to nitpick the situation. Host Lawrence Jones told Fox & Friends on Monday that three weeks was way too soon to introduce someone to their parents, and called the situation “a recipe for disaster.” On Outnumbered, host Harris Faulkner pointed out that Swift had yelled “the f-bomb,” when Kelce scored a touchdown. “I don’t know if I could do that in front of my husband’s mom when I was dating him,” Faulkner said.

“This is very bad news for Kansas City fans, she’s going to break up with him and write a song about him,” added guest host Mark Thiessen, “I’m very happy she’s not dating anyone on the New York Rangers.”

We don’t know where the bad blood is coming from, but we know all too well that wherever an independently successful woman at the height of her career gives any sort of insight into her personal life, bizarre criticism is sure to follow. And to that, we say control your urges to scream.

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