MSNBC’s post-debate panel was euphoric after news came in that Taylor Swift endorsed Kamala Harris for president, resulting in hosts Joy Reid and Rachel Maddow concluding that the Trump-Vance ticket is running against “the whole culture.” After noting that Trump and his supporters have gone to war with the likes of the NFL, Budweiser, Beyonce, and others, Chris Hayes poured cold water on Reid and Maddow’s glee by noting that the race is still “50/50.”
Reid kicked off the conversation by saying that Swift “commands a humongous squad of particularly young white women. And I think it’s important to point that out, because one of the places that Democrats have never been able to do well is among white voters, even young white voters, even young white women.”
“Dobbs has changed a lot. But you also had people like Taylor Swift come in and culturally put forward a version of young womanhood that is super modern. And she has been relentlessly attacked by the J.D. Vance world as being a bad role model because she is unmarried. And so she now is leaning into the exact demographic that J.D. Vance relentlessly targets, that he relentlessly disrespects. And she commands so much popularity among her super fans that they’ve changed the NFL in a lot of ways. So it’s not a small endorsement. It’s a big deal,” Reid concluded.
Nicolle Wallace also jumped in to discuss what she sees as the impact Swift can have on winning over voters, notably the parents of Swifties.
Hayes then quipped, “Can I just say, as a hopeless, bleeding heart liberal who’s also an enormous football fan, I didn’t think we get football in the national divorce.”
Reid added, “And no, but Kendrick Lamar is going to be in New Orleans and he’s going to be the halftime show. And it’s like it’s it’s also a theme of the Harris campaign.”
“In a real way. To your point about, you know, that Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce in that you know what that is a sort of a pop cultural phenomenon,” Hayes added, noting that Swift through her NFL star boyfriend has extended her appeal.
As the conversation progressed, Maddow tore into JD Vance who she lambasted as “the protege” of “an eccentric right wing German billionaire who says democracy should have never been attempted” – referring to Peter Theil.
Reid jumped in and added, “And by the way, he is now the person with this, the second closest finger on the button to a 78-year-old declining senior citizen who you can see right now is cognitively declining. And not only that, but they are running against the whole culture. It’s Beyoncé and Taylor Swift and Kendrick Lamar.”
“It’s Budweiser and the NFL,” said Maddow.
“All of it,” agreed the others, “It’s all of it.”
Hayes then burst the bubble, saying, “But it’s a 50/50 race! Just, like I hate to wrench us back to reality, but it’s like literally a tight race.”
After an awkward laugh, Lawrence O’Donnell spoke in a more somber tone and said, “You know, I’ve never been impressed by celebrity endorsements. I think they are helpful to the base that you already have. They tend to be people who the base already identifies with. This is someone who crosses at all. This is, I think, the most important celebrity endorsement we’ve ever seen in a presidential campaign, especially because it is so close and it can make that kind of difference.”
Watch the clip above via MSNBC.
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