Taylor Swift and Brittany Mahomes Highlight Divides: Can Democrats and Republicans Stay Friends?

(The Hill) – When Brittany Mahomes, part-owner of a professional football team and wife of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, “liked” an Instagram post by former President Trump last month, it quickly sparked a social media discussion about her game-day friend, Taylor Swift.

How can Swift, who supported Joe Biden in 2020, be friends with someone who supports Trump?

Mahomes ended up not liking the Instagram post following the backlash, but she took to the social media site shortly after to post a message that appeared to address the controversy.

“Hating as an adult means you have deep-rooted issues from childhood that you refuse to heal. There's no reason why your fully developed brain should hate seeing others doing well,” she writes.

Swift's comments about Brittany Mahomes have come under further scrutiny after the “Shake It Off” singer was seen embracing Mahomes at the U.S. Open last week and also attended Patrick Mahomes' birthday party over the weekend, just days after the pop star endorsed Vice President Harris' run for the White House.

“I don't expect billionaires to lead a revolution or anything like that, but I just don't understand why someone would make a movie about standing up for justice at all costs and then literally never stand up for anything again,” X wrote in his post, which went viral with criticism of the hug.

The criticism of Swift and Mahomes' friendship highlights what many Americans are experiencing at a time when tensions are at an all-time high in the final stages of the presidential campaign.

Family dinners become inherently hostile. Angry exchanges erupt on social media over posts praising one candidate or criticizing another. When artists or celebrities cross political lines, fans fight on social media.

Following the second assassination attempt on President Trump on Sunday, negative and sometimes spiteful rhetoric from politicians and their supporters has come under increased scrutiny. Former presidents and other Republicans have blamed Democrats for the attacks on Trump. Many Democrats say Trump's own rhetoric has further heated the environment, pointing to recent threats against schools and government buildings in Springfield, Ohio.

Republicans and Democrats blame each other for creating an increasingly toxic environment that makes it difficult for Republicans and Democrats to build friendships, whether in Congress or in everyday life.

“It's not just, 'Oh, you and I are from different parties or have different beliefs,' it's, 'If you believe what that party believes and you don't believe what I believe, you're an immoral person,'” Amy Gordon said, summing up the differences between Americans of different political stripes.

Gordon is an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Michigan and published a research paper earlier this year in the peer-reviewed journal of the American Psychological Association called “I Love You, But I Hate Your Politics.”

“Our political identity is becoming so central to people's identity that it is surpassing other aspects of people's identity, such as race and gender,” Gordon said.

How does it work in Congress?

Some in Congress have argued that he has been successful in maintaining friendships between the two parties.

Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) briefly denounced more than a half-dozen Democrats he considers friends.

“Maxine Waters gives me the biggest high-five,” Burchett, a self-described lifelong conservative, said of the California Democrat. She also cited fellow Democrats Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), Dan Goldman (N.Y.), Jonathan Jackson (Ill.) and Dean Phillips (Min.).

“My colleagues are always stopping by during meetings to check on me, chat, and play with the office dog,” said Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.), whose office is down the hall from Burchett in the Longworth Office Building.

Burchett said one of the keys to having bipartisan allies is not to hold grudges, noting that Moskowitz dressed up as Santa Claus at Burchett's Christmas party at the Capitol last year.

“I don't hold grudges. I don't like that kind of thing. I think it would cost me my life,” he said.

Responding to Burchett's declaration of friendship, Jackson described his relationship with his colleague as “real,” and said the two exchange occasional text messages about everything from their kids to pets.

“We all have different experiences, but we all have common interests,” Jackson said. “We all want to do what's best for our country, even if we see it from different perspectives.”

Jackson added that while there are differences between the two, “politics doesn't get in the way of our friendship.”

After Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.)RevealedWhen Burchett revealed he was battling cancer in 2022, he said he told the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee that he was praying for him.

“We became friends, even though we didn't agree on anything. I would see him and we'd talk every day,” Burchett said of his relationship with Raskin.

Raskin praised Burchett, whom he describes as a good friend, for his “quirky, unconventional” sense of humor. “I think Tim is the funniest Republican and he thinks he's the funniest Republican, so we definitely have something in common. But what I really love about him is he's a genuinely kind person,” he said.

Burchett is not Raskin's only surprising ally on the other side of the political aisle.

“Lauren Boebert is a friend of mine and she emails me a lot. She's a big emailer,” Raskin said of the Colorado Republican.

When Boebert became a grandmother, Raskin and his wife gifted the Republican firebrand a baby bodysuit that mocked their political differences, with the message: “I may nap a lot, but I'm still awake.”

“She thought it was very funny,” Raskin said.

But he doesn't have all the bipartisan best friends on Capitol Hill: Burchett said Democrats and even some Republicans won't talk to him because of some of his political positions.

“I refuse to fall into that trap,” he said. “Holding bitterness and hatred towards life is a path that leads to being hated and bitter. I choose not to do that.”

Find the Line

Michael Eric Dyson, a well-known historian and author, said it should be possible to build friendships between people with very different political views.

“There are ways to vehemently disagree and still maintain the ability to stand up for your beliefs,” he said.

Dyson recalled the moment after he testified at a Senate hearing on hip hop, the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) ran up to him, shook his hand and called him one of the most eloquent speakers who had ever testified before the committee.

“I disagreed with him on many issues but I appreciated his unorthodox stance,” Dyson said, adding that the meeting led to a friendship.

Yana Krupnikov, a professor of communications and media at the University of Michigan, said when it comes to politics and friendship, or family and friendship, it often comes down to prioritizing your own values ​​and what you think is important.

“The question is, what is more important to you? Your political stance or this particular relationship? And there's no right answer,” Krupnikov says. “It really depends on the situation. You can have a friend and know they have terrible judgment, but still value the relationship for other reasons. It's a very relationship-specific balance.”

Beth Silvers and Sarah Stewart Holland know firsthand both the challenges and rewards of maintaining politically diverse friendships.

The two, who met in college sorority houses in 1999, often disagree on politics: Silvers says she's “always been a very moderate Republican” and now considers herself an independent, while Stewart Holland describes herself as a “very partisan” Democrat.

The two host the popular podcast “Pantsuit Politics” and wrote a 2022 book called “So, What? How to Move Forward When Divided (About Basically Everything).”

“You can't define everything about someone by asking them how they vote,” Stewart Holland said.

“I'm not saying that if there's a threat to you or your family, you should sit down and have a coffee with that person, but I believe democracy, and certainly elections, is about persuasion, and you can't persuade people that won't talk to you,” Stewart Holland said.

“You can't influence someone you've never spoken to and cut out of your life,” she added.

“It's always interesting to have discussions with her,” Silvers said of her conversations with her longtime friend and podcast partner.

“I'm always learning something about her, about myself and about the world, so we just keep talking,” Silvers said.

Raskin said Republicans and Democrats “absolutely” can be friends.

“Abraham Lincoln spoke about the bonds of affection that we have as Americans that we can never let go of,” said Raskin, the former constitutional law professor.

“Not everyone can be friends with everyone, but everyone can be friends with at least a few people across the aisle.”

Swift Mahomes

It's impossible to know exactly what goes on in the atmosphere of high-flying celebrity that surrounds Swift.

But Mahomes and Swift appear to prioritize their friendship over politics, even if that can be difficult at times.

For example, the Daily Mail reported this week that Mahomes was deeply troubled by the former president's Truth Social post on Sunday in which he explicitly declared, “I hate Taylor Swift!”

Last week, Patrick Mahomes dodged a question about his wife's possible support for Trump.

“I've always said that I don't want my position or my platform to be used to endorse any candidate or for any other purpose,” the quarterback said. “I see my role as just letting people know to register to vote, to do their own research and make the best decision for themselves and their families.”

Given that like-minded people are migrating into the same states and regions, there may be fewer opportunities to interact with people who think differently about politics, which could compound the problem, experts say.

“I think there's a danger in not exposing ourselves to people who have different views,” Gordon said.

Podcast host Stewart Holland said reports about whether politics have caused a rift in Swift and Mahomes' friendship resonate because they reflect what many ordinary Americans are trying to go through in their own lives.

“I'm wondering if I can be friends with people who like Trump's posts,” the poster said.

“This isn't about Taylor Swift and Brittany Mahomes. We're addressing our own doubts as we always do with celebrities,” Stewart Holland said.