Headline Roundup • August 27th, 2025
‘Old-School’ Love: Left and Right Find Common Ground on Swift-Kelce Engagement
Summary from the AllSides News Team
Pop singer Taylor Swift and NFL star Travis Kelce announced their engagement on Tuesday, drawing media perspectives and common ground across the spectrum.
From The Left: In an essay for The New York Times Opinion (Left bias), Jennifer Weiner said the engagement came as no surprise “with such a long and deliberate lead-up and such an obviously elaborate plan for maximum media saturation.” She added, “You might think anything that deliberate would generate a wave of backlash, a tsunami of cynicism. And yet judging from the early returns on social media, the general feeling appeared to be, well, delight.” Weiner described the news as “a tiny piece of joy in a sea of troubles” that could mean “maybe there are still good men” and “maybe love still wins.”
From The Right: Kathryn Jean Lopez of National Review (Right) described the Swift-Kelce duo as “a bit of a throwback in our odd times (when even Zoom meetings sometimes ask for pronouns).” She said, “We live at a time when people are afraid of marriage,” and that “there is nothing like a pop star and an NFL player to make an old-school concept like love and marriage contagious.” Lopez also referenced several social media posts from “pro-life leaders” who expressed positive sentiments toward the engagement and wished Kelce and Swift “be blessed with babies the natural way, if it is God’s will for them.”
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Patrick Smith/Getty Images
By now you’ve probably heard the news, or maybe just the joyful squeals emanating from TikTok or Swifties in your neighborhood: On Tuesday, Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift, the Kansas City Chiefs football star and the multiplatinum pop princess (or, as the happy couple refer to themselves, “your English teacher and your gym teacher”) announced their engagement.
The news was not an out-of-the-clear-blue-sky surprise. For one thing, the couple have been dating for two years. For another, the announcement was so carefully choreographed, with such a long and deliberate lead-up...
On the afternoon of Tuesday, August 26, history paused.
All commentary focused on an engagement. All eyes looked to a garden and a football player, who took a different kind of knee.
The Taylor Swift–Travis Kelce duo is a bit of a throwback in our odd times (when even Zoom meetings sometimes ask for pronouns). The New York Times wedding section isn’t just for brides and grooms anymore.
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