Taylor Swift under fire for embracing Brittany Mahomes amid pro-Trump controversy

Taylor Swift sent some of her left-leaning admirers reeling Sunday after she and Travis Kelce shared a box at the U.S. Open Men’s Final with Patrick Mahomes and his wife, Brittany, who has become a controversial figure since signaling her support for Donald Trump last month and after the GOP presidential candidate personally thanked her for defending him and his MAGA agenda.

By being seen sharing hugs and kisses with Brittany Mahomes, Swift let the world know that there is no feud between them, following speculation that they’d had falling out over this year’s presidential election. That speculation blew up after the Kansas City Chiefs game last Thursday when the pop mega-star and her NFL WAG bestie declined to sit together, as they tended to do during the 2023 season.

The perceived political differences between the two women has to do with the fact Swift endorsed Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in 2020 and expressed the view that Trump is an existential threat to democracy by accusing the then-president of “stoking the fires of white supremacy and racism.”

Swift has yet to endorse a candidate this year, but she is under increasing pressure to endorse Harris and her running mate Tim Walz, with some of that pressure coming from fans who are excited about the possibility of electing the first female president.

Meanwhile, Mahomes’ Instagram feed shows that she’s has become a MAGA darling since she liked a Aug.13 post from Trump last month. On that now-infamous post, Trump shared the 2024 GOP platform, including such bullet points as “carry out the largest deportation operation in American history,” “keep men OUT of women’s sports,” and “cut federal funding for any school pushing Critical Race Theory, Radical Gender Ideology, and other inappropriate racial, sexual, or political content on our children.”

Now, Swift’s decision to be seen acting like BFFs with Mahomes, while enjoying a private box at Arthur Ashe Stadium, has left some of her fans disappointed, if not angry. On X, they questioned whether the “Bad Blood” singer was ever that interested in standing on principles, with some accusing her of “choosing to align herself with people tied to harmful ideologies.”

“I don’t expect a billionaire to lead the revolution or anything. I’m just confused as to why one would make a movie about standing up for what’s right at any cost only to literally never stand for anything again,” Matt Bernstein, an LGBTQ activist, influencer, YouTuber and podcast host, said in a post on X that received more than 155,000 likes.

The movie Bernstein referenced was Swift’s documentary “Miss Americana,” which came out in 2020. The film showed her explaining her reasons for finally expressing her political views and her decision to support Democratic candidates in her home state of Tennessee in 2018, even if she risked alienating conservative fans. The film also featured a scene of Swift tearfully expressing regret about not having helped Hillary Clinton to defeat Trump in 2016, the Daily Beast reported.

But another person expressed some disillusionment with Swift on X, saying: “I don’t think taylor swift is a republican but i do think she’s an out of touch democrat billionaire who believes that you can separate politics from relationships because she will be protected from everything.”

“She has made hundreds of millions from women and the queer community, the threatened groups in the US,” said another person said. “Just as we hold certain companies to certain standards, we should also hold her to the same standards. It is not unreasonable to expect her verbal support. It’s easy & no cost.”

Leigh Laura, a Democratic activist and influencer, reacted to photos of Swift embracing Mahomes by saying that her “silence” on “the hard work” of the Swifties For Kamala social media movement, which says it is not affiliated with Swift, is “disappointing,” but “says it all.”

“Maybe she doesn’t want to offend new bff Brittany Mahomes but Democracy IS a big deal,” Laura also said.

But others offered up the view that people “in a free country” can still be friends with others who don’t share their political or religious views. They can “still like the person as a human being,” one person said. “I don’t like Trump but have many friends that do.”

Certainly, Swift’s appearance with Mahomes raises the question of whether the “Shake It Off” singer will endorse a candidate this year and when.  If Swift wants to endorse Harris, author Don Winslow said last week that she and other celebrities should not wait until October, especially given that early voting begins in some states this month. “Learn from the examples of 2016 when a bunch of celebrities showed up a few days before the election and it was TOO LATE,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Daily Beast’s account of Swift’s reunification with Mahomes at the U.S. Open suggested that the wife of the Chiefs quarterback is not necessarily that wedded to a pro-Trump position, or that she has no intention of speaking any more about politics. The Daily Beast noted that Mahomes subsequently removed her like of Trump’s Aug. 13 post, though it was preserved for posterity in screenshots.

Nonetheless, she was not following Trump as of Sunday, the Daily Beast also reported. She also appeared to brush off broader accusations about her political leanings, posting on her Instagram Story that to “be a hater as an adult, you have to have some deep rooted issues you refuse to heal from childhood.”

Patrick Mahomes has expressly said that he won’t be taking sides in this year’s election, telling Time magazine in April: “I don’t want to pressure anyone to vote for a certain president. I want people to use their voice, whoever they believe in. I want them to do the research.”

Following Sunday’s U.S. Men’s Final, during which Jannik Sinner defeated Taylor Fritz in three sets, Swift and Kelce headed out for dinner in Manhattan with Brittany and Patrick Mahomes. The double date appeared to confirm that Brittany Mahomes has not been banished from Swift’s inner circle, while the U.S. Sun reported that there is “zero tension” between the women.

The Sun explained that the women didn’t sit together at the Chiefs’ victorious game against the Baltimore Ravens last week simply because they “had different plans” that day.

“They are very good friends and they were so excited to go to the game, but they had different plans as it happens sometimes,” an insider told The Sun. “Brittany is a family woman, and Taylor likes to enjoy the game sometimes like it’s a party,” the source continued.”