Taylor Swift's political silence is under increased scrutiny after she was spotted hanging out with Brittany Mahomes at the U.S. Open.Despite denouncing Donald Trump ahead of the 2020 election, Swift has declined to openly endorse a candidate in the current election cycle, nor has she commented on American politics in any way in recent months. Considering how much star power and influence she has (Vote.org recorded over 35,000 new voter registrations after she linked the site last year), this in and of itself has been disappointing to fans.But there are additional factors compounding the frustration. For one, Trump used AI images to insinuate that Swift had endorsed his candidacy, while drawing attention to a "Swifties for Trump" movement. Despite being notoriously litigious, Swift and her camp said nothing. There's also the fact that she released a documentary in 2020 that emphasized her desire to speak out about politics and social injustices."To celebrate but not advocate felt wrong for me. Using my voice to try to advocate was the only choice to make," she said at the time. "Because Ive talked about equality and sung about it in songs like Welcome to New York, but we are at a point where human rights are being violated."And still, nothing.The latest bout of frustration with Swift's seemingly dogged refusal to comment on everything currently at stake in the U.S. comes after she was photographed cozied up to Mahomes, with whom she has become friendly ever since dating Travis Kelce. Mahomes apparently liked (and then unliked) an Instagram post from Trump recently, which is possibly what prompted him to publicly thank her for "strongly defending" him. (@) People wondered what Swift would do in the wake of Mahomes seemingly being outed as a Trump supporter, and were disappointed albeit not always surprised to find that the answer appears to still be absolutely nothing. (@) The frustration has been palpable, with numerous opinion pieces joining the chorus of complaints across social media. And while many of Swift's critics are, in fact, her fans, others have doubled down on defending her. One wrote that "Brittany Mahomes' political views have nothing to do with Taylor Swift," while others insisted "it is possible to be friends with people who don't share your political views." But things in Swift's circle don't function the same way they do for the average person. Being friends with the "Look What You Made Me Do" singer has demonstrably increased Mahomes' platform her Instagram follower count went up by over 25% the first month after they were seen together. And that's just looking at numbers; there's ultimately no way to know how much Swift's friendship has helped Mahomes increase her own reach. (@) Some fans have also simply lamented that Swift is held to a different standard than other celebrities which may be true, but in this case, she laid the groundwork for that herself with Miss Americana and her public declaration that "I need to be on the right side of history" when it comes to speaking out.So with that in mind, it's really no wonder that people are irritated with Swift's baffling decision to keep her mouth shut. If actions speak louder than words, her actions, along with her silence, sure are doing a lot to tear down the image she presented of herself in a pre-Travis, pre-Matty Healy era. (@) (@) (@) (@) (@) (@) (@) (@) (@) (@) (@) (@) (@) (@) (@)