Beyoncé’s Most Political Year Yet

Beyoncé has been on her “Yeehaw, America!” tip from the very start of the year. With a country music album (Cowboy Carter) and a cover that features her in full-blown “Americana gear/regalia,” Beyoncé seemed determined to hold fast to her “ideals” of the U.S. even as it became increasingly apparent that Donald “Cheeto” Trump still had a strong chance of winning the election—even after everything that went down (insurrections, indictments, hush money, you name it). Especially because of the doubts cast on Joe Biden’s “mental competency” (even if Trump’s is hardly a “notch above”).

And then, for a while, people seemed to forget about Beyoncé and her country foray. There were so many albums afterward, from Taylor’s The Tortured Poets Department to Dua’s Radical Optimism to Billie’s Hit Me Hard and Soft to Charli’s Brat. Even Megan Thee Stallion and Ice Spice have released new records in the time since Cowboy Carter vaguely dominated the chart. So maybe something activated within Beyoncé to remind her that she needed to reclaim her place in the spotlight—indeed, use her star power to invoke political change. It started with granting Kamala Harris permission to use Lemonade’s “Freedom” for her ad campaign. And then, as if that weren’t enough, Beyoncé jumped in for a Team USA Olympics ad that was aired the same week.

As most people are aware by now, the Olympics remains one of the most politically fraught milieus…in spite of its cries of being a “source of unity.” Indeed, it can often become a political hotbed (e.g., Americans boycotting the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow and, four years later, Russians boycotting the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles—these two cities also appropriately representing polar opposite ideals). 2024 is no different, especially with the ongoing invasion of Palestine by Israel, as well as the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. But obviously, Beyoncé has much less interest in that than she does in what’s going on “in her own backyard.” And what’s going on, of course, is the 2024 presidential race.

While some might feel that, with Kamala Harris as the frontrunner for taking on Donald Trump in lieu of Joe Biden, there’s no competition now, such thinking would be a severe overestimation of what America is “really about.” And that, of course, is what makes Trump still have a good chance of winning. With this in mind, the commercial Beyoncé participated in is rife with political undertones. Reworking “Ya Ya” from Cowboy Carter (a song that actually would have worked more effectively in Harris’ campaign ad), Beyoncé appears in yet another “Yeehaw, America!” getup (Western excess at its “finest”)—her very expensive-looking boots bedecked with glittery Olympic rings in addition to red, white and blue flourishes. She’s also wearing a sparkly American flag cowboy hat and a leotard with the word “USA” emblazoned across the chest (and yes, the crotch/waist part of it also has an American flag pattern). Never mind that people who love draping the American flag on themselves usually tend to be conservative rednecks (sort of like Lana Del Rey, who cosplays that persona). Beyoncé wants to prove otherwise. That even “liberals” can be garishly over the top when it comes to their patriotism.

The singer quickly gets to the point vis-à-vis the subtext of what’s at stake for this election. She wants to remind the viewers at home that America isn’t as white as it would often like to believe. Or rather, as white as conservatives would like to “keep” it. So it is that Beyoncé touts to a montage of multicolored faces, “Get a look at America, y’all. These hopes and dreams, these superstars that represent us. The people of this big, bold, beautiful, complicated nation. All rooting together for them.” Of course, the word “complicated” feels like the biggest euphemism of all time. What she surely meant was “unapologetically racist, sexist, capitalist and jingoist.” Both Beyoncé and Jay-Z are prime examples of the unapologetic capitalist category, proving the theory that everyone becomes white once they get filthy rich. Even so, Beyoncé wants to make this commercial as “aspirational” as possible. Hence, her little characterization of it that totally glosses over why the U.S. will always be what amounts to a “failed British colony.”

After she calls it “big, bold, beautiful and complicated,” the lyric, “You lookin’ for a new America” strategically plays in the background as the athletes are paraded. She then continues to boast, “We’ve got superstars and we’ve got legends. We’ve got big dreamers who fought their whole lives to get here. Who gave up everything, for one shot [here, she sounds like Eminem on “Lose Yourself”]. And made it. That pride and that joy, that’s what gets me about this team.” Of course, this is the sort of rhetoric that Bible Belt America actually loves to hear, even though it’s filled with white supremacists who probably considered boycotting watching the games because they’re in Gay Paris—and remember, the U.S. is the country that tried to rename French fries “freedom fries” in 2003 because of France’s (rightful) opposition to the invasion of Iraq. So yeah, let’s just say “average Americans” (the ones who are rotund and don’t have a passport) don’t really jive with France. Don’t quite “get” it. In contrast, a country like France gets everything about America. As James Baldwin put it (in relation to Black vs. white), “You never had to look at me. I had to look at you. I know more about you than you know about me.” Because America is overexposed, to say the least, there is little about its “character” that isn’t known to “foreign entities.”

Meanwhile, Beyoncé keeps prattling on with subtext, wielding her talk of “Team USA” as a timely symbol of what America itself ought to represent in this forthcoming election. Thus, she adds, “That’s what makes me believe in this team… America, give it up for Team USA. The very best of who we are. What a vision to behold. What a team to believe in.” Especially when they’re all getting paid so well while the broke asses at home continue to be fed with the lie that everyone, no matter who they are, can achieve their dreams if they just work hard.