Caitlin Clark may have just gained more Taylor Swift fans than Kamala Harris. And Clark didn't have to ask for it.
The viral social media presence of a post Clark sent while she was in college made her: the newest revered ally of the Swift army.
The post came right after Swift went public with her relationship with Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce. Clark welcomed Swift into the Chiefs fan family. Clark said she is a longtime Chiefs fan because she grew up in suburban Iowa.
“Taylor Swift welcome to the good side,” Clark wrote on September 24, 2023. write an X with the hashtag “Kingdom of Chiefs.”
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Taylor Swift with Donna Kelce after the AFC Championship Game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Baltimore Ravens on January 28, 2024 in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Over the past 24 hours, multiple Taylor Swift fan pages on social media have retweeted Clark's tweet following a controversial podcast episode hosted by Clark's archrival Angel Reese.
Reese hosted Kayla Nicole, who is a promotional model, media personality, TV host and entertainment journalist popular on Instagram with over 797,000 followers. Since the episode was posted on Thursday, after Nicole detailed her past romantic relationship with Kelce and its difficult aftermath, her follower count has been growing rapidly.
“We've seen each other in public before, but I think we're both aware of the nature of his new situation, that there's just no room for us to communicate or acknowledge him publicly without it turning into something crazy,” Nicole said of Kelce and his new relationship with Swift.
Nicole also stated that she felt hatred for the relationship since Kelce started dating Swift instead of her.
“I would be lying if I said that this level of hate and just chaos on the internet doesn't affect me,” Nicole said. “It is still like that today. You can go to my latest post where people will debate among themselves why I am worthless, will never be a talented person and have no career.”
The comments sparked a much-discussed controversy on social media, with some coming to Nicole's defense and sympathizing with her for the alleged hate she received. However, others, as well as many people who openly identify as Swift fans, are critical of Nicole for a variety of reasons.
Many of these same Swift fans have declared themselves fans of Clark during her ongoing women's basketball rivalry against Reese.
Angel Reese (right) and Caitlin Clark in the second half on June 23, 2024, at Wintrust Arena in Chicago. (Melissa Tamez/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Clark and Reese are transcendent figures in women's basketball, linked together since they first met during the 2023 NCAA Women's Basketball Championship. Reese famously mocked Clark at the end of that game when her LSU Tigers defeated Clark's Iowa Hawkeyes for the title, pointing to her finger in a mocking manner to remind her who would get the ring.
This sparked outrage from Clark's huge fan base, including Bartstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy, who in a widely shared X post called Reese a “piece of s—” after Reese's gesture in the championship game.
Clark and Reese have never admitted that there is a “dispute” between them and have only spoken respectfully about each other in interviews and press conferences. However, since that match in 2023, fans of the stars have been known to attack each other on social media.
CAITLIN CLARK AND ANGEL REESE'S INFLUENCE ON MEN'S BASKETBALL
Angel Reese (right) and Flau'jae Johnson of the LSU Lady Tigers react after a 79-72 victory over the Virginia Tech Hokies during the 2023 NCAA Women's Final Four at American Airlines Center on March 31, 2023 in Dallas, Texas. (Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
Reese said Clark's fans sent her death threats and shared explicit photos of her with the AI, then sent them to her family.
“I think it's really just the fans, her fans, the Iowa fans, and now the Indiana fans, who are really fair and ride for her and I respect that, with respect. But sometimes it's very disrespectful. “I think there's a lot of racism when it comes to that,” Reese said.
Its latest episode sparked discussion. Criticism towards Reese for hosting Kelce's ex sparked a backlash from Reese on Friday afternoon.
“Hate pays too,” Reese wrote in: write an X with a toenail painting emoji. The episode received a lot of attention in its final day, which Reese will benefit from as a podcast host.
Nicole is also not the first victim of hateful comments from Swift's fans. Swift's fans famously attacked another woman who famously had a relationship with the Chiefs star. Brittany Mahomes, wife of quarterback Patrick Mahomes, faced a wave of viral backlash for liking an August 13 post from Donald Trump's Instagram account.
The post outlined the former president's political agenda for 2024. Swift fans knew Mahomes because of her friendship with Swift as they went to Chiefs games to watch Patrick Mahomes and Kelce play.
However, many of those same Swift fans sent out screenshots resembling Mahomes' post, making her a target of online attacks, which she repeatedly addressed in subsequent Instagram posts. This thrust Mahomes and her husband into a national political conversation. After Swift endorsed Kamala Harris on September 10, Trump stated in an interview with Fox News on September 11 that he liked Brittany Mahomes more than Swift.
The same day, Patrick publicly praised his wife following Trump's comments, but refused to endorse any political candidate.
Swift's initial endorsement of Harris was also met with backlash from Clark, who liked Swift's Instagram post announcing her statement of support.
When asked why Clark liked the post, the basketball star did not endorse Harris but said she wanted to use her platform to encourage Americans to vote.
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Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark reacts during a WNBA first-round basketball playoff game against Connecticut, Sunday, Sept. 25, 2024, in Uncasville, Connecticut. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
As more Swift fans reach out to Clark following her interview with Reese, they will join a fan base that has also been widely discussed. Some WNBA players, including Reese and Connecticut Sun player Alyssa Thomas, accused Indiana Fever fans of racism, while Sun player DiJonai Carrington called Fever fans “the worst fans in the (WNBA).”
During exit interviews with Fever on September 27, Clark said that some of her band's fans are not fans.
“These are not fans. These are trolls” – Clark said.
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