 |
| Taylor Swift |
Does Donald Trump really think Taylor Swift is going to pay a price for her endorsement of Kamala Harris for president?
Dream on, Donald.
There’s no way mega-star Swift is going to suffer the same fate as the Dixie Chicks. That group faced a boycott in country music land in 2003, after lead singer Natalie Maines criticized George W. Bush for his invasion of Iraq.
Though she was right, the Dixie Chicks paid a big price.
As one of the top bands on the country & western circuit, the Dixie Chicks were devastated when country stations across the land denied them airplay.
They dropped “Dixie” from the band’s name in 2020.
Swift has no such limitations. Her fans span all musical genres and walks of life.
A 2023 Morning Consult poll found that more than half of US adults (53 percent) are Swift fans.
Though Swifties skew female (52 percent), 48 percent of them are men. About three-quarters are White, 13 percent are Black and nine percent are Asian.
More than half (55 percent) of Swift fans live in suburbs, which will be a key battleground in the November election. The split between urban and rural fans is 26 percent and 21 percent.
Though most Swift fans identify as Democrats (55 percent), the remainder are equally split between Republicans and independents.
Trump, who now says he really was never a fan of Swift—though he had accepted her phony AI endorsement—has jumped on the Brittany Mahomes bandwagon. She’s the wife of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
Since they hang out together at Chiefs games, the former president apparently thinks that Taylor and Brittany are two peas in the same PR pod.
He also prefers Mahomes because she’s a big MAGA fan. “I like her much better than Taylor Swift,” Trump said on Fox & Friends on September 11.
Trump’s brain must have become really fried during his debate with Kamala Harris.
Out of the blue and off the wall….Who is advising Melania Trump? What PR ace thought it was a good idea for the former First Lady Melania Trump to emerge from the shadows on Sept. 10 to spread a conspiracy theory about the assassination attempt on her hubby.
“The attempt to end my husband’s life was a horrible, distressing experience,” said Melania in a creepy 34-second video. “Now the silence around it feels heavy. I can’t help but wonder, why didn’t law enforcement officials arrest the shooter before the speech. There is definitely more to this story, and we need to uncover the truth.”
Melania spoke nearly two months after the shooting in Butler, PA, and on the same day that hubby was set to debate Kamala Harris. Talk about hogging a guy’s spotlight.
The video ended with an image of the book “Melania,” a 256-page memoir set for release during the second week of October.
The book is pitched as a “powerful and inspiring story of a woman who has defined personal excellence, overcome adversity and carved her own path.” Give us a break.
The video has a link to buy Melania’s vanity project. You can cough up $250 for a “collector’s edition,” $75 for a signed copy and $40 for an off-the-shelf copy.
Melania obviously has learned from the master. She is a shameless and first-class grifter.
During Trump’s administration, Melania came up with the BeBest anti-bullying campaign. The best she can now do is to exit the national stage.
Not so fast, Lachlan. Fox Corp. CEO Lachlan Murdoch told the Goldman Sachs media conference on Sept. 10 that he is ready to hit the acquisition trial.
It’s his bid to emerge from the long shadow of his 93-year-old father, Rupert. He also wants some breathing room from his bickering brother and sisters.
Lachlan really needs to buckle down and clear up Fox’s complicated ownership structure before looking for deals.
Activist shareholder Starboard Value plans to introduce a resolution at Fox’s annual meeting to break up the dual-class ownership structure of the media company.
That structure gives the Murdoch family 41 percent control of Fox. The company says it has "thrived under the current structure and guidance of the Board and senior leadership despite major changes in consumer behavior amidst the digital revolution of the last decade.”
Jeffrey Smith, Starboard’s managing member, is circulating a letter to shareholders, charging that a legal battle for control of the Murdoch Family Trust clouds the further direction of Fox.
The squabble pits conservatives Rupert and Lachlan on one side and liberal James, Elizabeth and Prudence on the other.
The New York Times haS reported that Rupe is concerned about the lack of family consensus. He wants to consolidate power in the hands of Lachlan.
The differing worldviews of the Murdoch children “could be paralyzing to the strategic direction of the company, more importantly, we are not are why their perspectives should carry greater weight than the view of other shareholders,” wrote Smith.
Before launching an acquisition blitz, Lachlan needs to get Fox’s house in order. While dad is still around, Lachlan should make peace with Elizabeth, Prudence and James.
Thin-skinned Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent banned America's top-tier financial media from covering the G20 financial summit staged on our home field... GOP bans CBC/Radio Canada from covering Donald Trump's super-rally set for Dallas next week... The US is poised to join Lebanon, Peru, Gabon and Nigeria as most perceived corrupt countries.
Keurig Dr Pepper isn’t exactly lighting up the lemon-lime soda category with the August reformulation of 7UP... Coca-Cola successfully spins 'new Coke' marketing blunder into a strategic masterstroke... White House press shop praises Army Secretary Dan Driscoll as he resigns due to tensions with DOD Secretary Pete Hegseth... It's much easier for the Pentagon to pay influencers rather than trying to figure way out of Iran mess.
Fired Stars and Stripes journalists fire back at Pentagon with suit charging censorship and First Amendment violations... H/Advisors reports 44 percent of $1B or more deals were leaked to the press... What's Trump going to do with Ontario (CA), Toronto (OH), Montreal (WI), New Brunswick (NJ) and Halifax (VA)?
Donald Trump's crazy idea to rename Lake Ontario destroys the H-O-M-E-S acronym for Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie and Superior. S-H-A-M-E doesn't do justice to the lakes... Team Trump's cheap shots at Canada's military irritates former US brass... Trump may love French-Canadians but that love is not reciprocal... Stanley Druckenmiller delivers big plug for AI... Polaroid cashes in on anti-data center sentiment. (Updated)
It’s evident to all that our 80-year-old president is a man stuck in the past but did he really have to invoke the spirit of disgraced FBI director J. Edgar Hoover?... NYC probes prediction markets. Kalshi Polymarket, Coinbase and Gemini Titan... Does anybody want Karoline Leavitt's job? It's no fun playing second fiddle to Trump, who serves as his own press spokesperson.
