With no sense of irony, JD Vance referred to Taylor Swift as a “billionaire celebrity” who’s “disconnected from the interests and the problems of most Americans” after the star endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris following Tuesday night’s debate against Donald Trump.
Whoopi Goldberg was not amused.
“You don’t know what affects her, you don’t know about her money. Shut up, JD,” Goldberg shot back at the vice presidential candidate on The View Thursday. Then, as she threw to a commercial break, she stopped herself to apologize for her wording: “I’m sorry, that was very rude. Stop talking, JD.”
Fans of The View may remember that “stop talking” is an iconic phrase of sorts for Goldberg, who famously told ex-host Megan McCain to “stop talking” in 2019. Goldberg told the audience she preferred that phrase over “shut up” and apologized because, “I hate when people tell me, pundits tell me, to shut up. It’s not a nice thing to say.” With that said, Goldberg added, “I do take it back, but the implication is—hush.”
Many on the right, including Trump, have since expressed their dismay at Swift’s endorsement, with one commentator calling voters who follow Swift’s lead “stupid,” and others, including Megyn Kelly, attacking Swift personally, calling her a “snob” and “imbecile.” And yet still, Swift’s endorsement of Harris following Tuesday’s debate has already attracted hundreds of thousands of potential Harris supporters to Vote.org.
Trump suggested Swift would “pay a price in the marketplace” for her endorsement, but there’s no evidence, at least based on 2020’s election in which Swift endorsed President Joe Biden, that that would happen. Therefore, Vance chose the path less traveled by the rest on the right and admitted to “loving” the singer’s music while trying to paint her as out of touch.
Though Goldberg would rather he’d hush, Vance end up helping Harris’ cause by further galvanizing her friendship bracelet-wearing base. And as Harris’ team cashes in on that trend and the endorsement itself, Swift’s celebrity could actually sway enough voters to make a difference in a very tight race.
As host Joy Behar said during the discussion, “We have one of the biggest stars in the world on the Democratic side and they have Chachi.”