The Online 'Backlash' to Caitlin Clark Liking Taylor Swift Post Is Meaningless

By Dustin Rowles | Social Media | September 13, 2024 |

By Dustin Rowles | Social Media | September 13, 2024 |

If you were to go to the Caitlin Clark’s Wikipedia page or research her past interviews, you’d be hard-pressed to find anything political about the generation’s most popular women’s basketball player. It’d also be difficult to make any assumptions about a practicing Catholic who grew up in a sports family in Iowa but who also plays in the WNBA, a diverse, socially progressive league.

Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark is as apolitical a sports figure as they come, and she probably prefers to keep it that way, which is why it was such a huge deal when she merely “liked” an Instagram post in which Taylor Swift endorsed Kamala Harris for President and encouraged her followers to register to vote.

Indeed, when asked about liking a post — as a society, we really have to stop reading so much into “likes” — Clark only referenced the part about encouraging people to register to vote.

“I have this amazing platform so I think the biggest thing would be just encourage people to vote,” Clark told reporters this week. “I think, for myself, this is the second time I can vote in an election … That’s the biggest thing I can do with the platform that I have, that’s the same thing Taylor did. And I think, continue to educate yourself with the candidates that we have, the policies that they’re supporting. I think that’s the biggest thing you can do, and that’s what I would recommend to every single person that has that opportunity in our country.”

There’s nothing in that statement that necessarily shows a voter preference, save for encouraging people to vote (which is not a strategy that Republicans often employ), but it hasn’t stopped Trump supporters from turning her mentions into toast. There’s no real reason to highlight any of the comments — readers can draw their own assumptions about them — but it’s important to note that Instagram comments do not reflect reality.

In fact, recall Donald Trump saying the morning after the debate that Taylor Swift’s sales would suffer because of her endorsement of Harris? Uh, please. And if you’re wondering if Clark’s “like” has affected her popularity, the New York Times notes that her signature basketball sold out in 40 minutes. “Per Sports Business Journal, the number of basketballs Clark sold is roughly in the ‘tens of thousands.’” Indeed, those basketballs — which are not exactly rare — are currently going for $200 on eBay and selling out.

It doesn’t appear that Clark’s reputation is going to take much of a hit over an Instagram like.