BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) 鈥� As thousands of fans eagerly lined up Thursday for the superstar鈥檚 first-ever concert in Argentina, they saw themselves surrounded by posters urging them to not vote in favor of in next week鈥檚 presidential election.
鈥淎 Swiftie Doesn't Vote Milei,鈥� read one of the posters, using the term commonly used to describe fans of the 12-time Grammy winner.
Some Swifties agreed. 鈥淭aylor defends lots of positions and things that Milei doesn鈥檛 represent,鈥� said 17-year-old Julieta Bracamontes. 鈥淭hat sign is right and I agree with it.鈥�
At the bottom of the poster a hashtag read 鈥淢ilei Is Trump.鈥�
Milei, a self-described anarcho-capitalist who holds lots of socially conservative positions including opposition to abortion, has often been .
鈥淚 think Trump is very similar to Milei,鈥� said Constanza Trunsky, a psychology student, noting the points in common between Argentina鈥檚 current political climate and the views Swift has expressed in the past, particularly her support for the .
Milei has said he supports marriage equality, which has been the law in Argentina since 2010, but has spoken up against sex education in schools and is opposed to the state devoting funds to assist the trans community as well as other minority groups.
Another poster that suddenly appeared in numerous locations around the Monumental Stadium in Buenos Aires showed a stylized stencil portrait of Swift holding a tray of cookies of different shapes that read, 鈥淢assa 2023,鈥� in reference to , Milei鈥檚 opponent in the Nov. 19 presidential runoff.
The most hardcore Swifties immediately knew the image made reference to a famous photo of an overalls-wearing Swift holding cookies in favor of s 2020 candidacy.
Politics first burst into the South American country鈥檚 Swift fandom late last month, when a fan club issued a news release calling on fans of the superstar singer to vote against Milei.
Milei 鈥渞epresents the antidemocratic right that comes to take away all our acquired rights,鈥� the fan club said in a news release.
The group spoke up shortly in the Oct. 22 election, obtaining 37% of the total, almost seven points more than Milei but not enough to avoid a runoff.
But not all Swifties agreed with the fan club meddling in politics.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 something they should get involved in and say that Swifties won鈥檛 vote (for Milei) because everyone has their personal opinion, and they can鈥檛 generalize like that,鈥� Lucila Losinno, 28, said Thursday while waiting to get into the concert.
Others who had been impatiently waiting for the to arrive in South America were eager to shake off any talk of politics.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 sympathize with any of the politicians, but I don鈥檛 know, I feel that putting the face of the artist on something political isn鈥檛 very good," said Malena Garachena, 19. But "it鈥檚 OK, I don鈥檛 think she鈥檒l see it.鈥�
Daniel Politi And Natacha Pisarenko, The Associated Press
