Where Republicans, Democrats Agree on Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift's popularity has divided Democrats and Republicans recently, but are both sides growing tired of seeing her name in the headlines?

Exclusive polling conducted for Newsweek by Redfield & Wilton Strategies found that a majority of Americans—52 percent—think Swift gets too much media attention, a figure that, for the most part, holds true across gender, age, party affiliation and geographical region.

Only 3 percent said she receives too little attention, while 34 percent said the pop star receives enough attention. Another 11 percent were unsure.

One of the most popular public figures in the world, Swift seemingly appears no matter where people look. She has dominated conversations and headlines about music, culture, sports, the economy and even politics. She has managed to hold Americans' interest throughout the 2023 news cycle—along with Donald Trump—but has also drawn the ire of conservatives who are unhappy with her media exposure.

Although Swift has been ubiquitous in the news cycle, she has not done any interviews in the past three years, aside from last year's in-depth conversation with Time when she was named the magazine's "Person of the Year."

The Redfield & Wilton survey, conducted among 1,500 eligible voters on January 18, found that 18 percent of voters say they're "more likely" or "significantly more likely" to vote for a candidate endorsed by Swift. By comparison, 17 percent said they would be less likely to vote for a Swift-backed candidate, and 55 percent would be neither more nor less likely to do so.

Those findings were about the same among Americans who voted for Joe Biden and those who voted for Trump in the 2020 election. The poll found that 22 percent of Biden voters and 18 percent of Trump voters said they would be more likely to cast a ballot for Swift's preferred candidate.

Opposition to Swift's political views, however, was more significant. Nearly 3 in 10 Trump supporters would be less likely to vote for a Swift-backed candidate, compared with only 16 percent of Biden supporters.

Although Biden voters were more likely to be Swift fans, 52 percent, the poll shows that a large faction of Trump supporters consider themselves fans, 44 percent. The survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.53 percent.

Some prominent Republicans have recently been angry at Swift, and conservative social media has become engulfed in conspiracy theories about the 12-time Grammy winner.

On Tuesday night, Fox News host Sean Hannity went on a tirade about the singer-songwriter. Former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has speculated that Swift is going to endorse Biden in the 2024 race after her boyfriend Travis Kelce's team, the Kansas City Chiefs, win the Super Bowl next month.

Swift first weighed in on American politics during the 2018 midterms, when she endorsed two Democratic candidates in Tennessee as part of her opposition to Republican Marsha Blackburn's Senate run. Blackburn went on to win her race, while Swift's endorsed candidate for the House of Representatives declared victory.

In the last presidential election, Swift supported the Biden-Harris ticket, saying, "Under their leadership, I believe America has a chance to start the healing process it so desperately needs." As part of her endorsement, she appeared on the cover of V magazine for its V is for Vote campaign.

"The change we need most is to elect a president who recognizes that people of color deserve to feel safe and represented, that women deserve the right to choose what happens to their bodies, and that the LGBTQIA+ community deserves to be acknowledged and included," Swift told the magazine.

"Everyone deserves a government that takes global health risks seriously and puts the lives of its people first," she continued. "The only way we can begin to make things better is to choose leaders who are willing to face these issues and find ways to work through them."

Swift has also been critical of Trump, accusing him of "stoking the fires of white supremacy and racism" during his time in the White House and slamming him for his response to the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020.

"We will vote you out in November," Swift warned Trump on X (formerly Twitter).