What does ‘registered Republican’ mean?

The actress has been central to a culture war in the US this past fortnight after she appeared as the face of an American Eagle advert campaign.

The punny “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans” tagline sparked debate regarding race through its use of language.

Here is how Jeansgate has unfolded.

Read also: Is Sydney Sweeney's 'bathwater-soap' a setback for feminism?

Why has the American Eagle ad gone viral?

In one of the adverts, Sweeney says: “Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair colour, personality and even eye colour. My jeans are blue.”

The American Eagle ad has been criticised by some for its alleged promotion of the discredited eugenics theory, a school-of-thought promoted in Nazi Germany that some attributes are superior.

The company has denied there was anything more in the message beyond the sale of jeans but the debate was such that Mr Trump was alerted to the issue and questioned by reporters.

How did Donald Trump react?

The president was more than willing to sing her praises once he became aware that she is a registered Republican voter in Florida, a detail found out by the Guardian.

Mr Trump boomed: “She’s a registered Republican? Now I love her ad! You’d be surprised at how many people are Republicans. If Sydney Sweeney is a registered Republican, I think her ad is fantastic!”

What does it mean to be a registered Republican?

America operates a different model of political affiliation to the UK.

Presidential candidates are nominated in the US after a series of inter-state “primary” contests, where voters choose who should stand.

Twenty states have “open” primaries, where voters do not have to be registered with a political party to take part.

A further 14 have “closed” primaries, where only voters registered with that party can take part and vote. For example, all registered Democrats in Oregon state will vote for which of the party’s candidates they want to run for president against the Republican candidate in 2028.

Then there are “semi-closed” primaries, a model used in 15 further states. This means that voters who are affiliated to a party or unaffiliated can take part, but they cannot take part if they are affiliated to the other party.

In addition, California and Washington use "top-two" primaries where all candidates appear on one ballot regardless of party, and the top two vote-getters advance to the general election.

Alaska uses a "top-four" system. Louisiana has a unique "jungle primary" system where all candidates run together in what's effectively the general election.

Is Sydney Sweeney a fully-fledged Donald Trump supporter?

Not necessarily.

Americans typically need to re-register to vote when they move to a new state, and during this process they can declare their party affiliation.

When Sweeney moved to Florida in June 2024, the same state where Mr Trump is based, she stated that she is a registered Republican. She has not stated her affiliation publicly, endorsed a candidate, or encouraged fans to vote one way or another.

Florida, which operates closed voting, often swings to the right. It is possible that Sweeney has followed the steps of many Americans in voting for the candidate she prefers for the party she does not like, but will likely win. But this is purely speculative.

However, it is also possible that Sweeney is indeed a fan of the president, or that she registered as a Republican alongside her family’s affiliation when she became old enough to vote. Again, this is speculative.

In 2022, she was seen at a family birthday party, where several attendees were seen to be wearing caps bearing Mr Trump’s “Make America Great Again” motto.

“An innocent celebration… has turned into an absurd political statement, which was not the intention,” Sweeney said at the time. “Stop making assumptions.”

Nonetheless, Mr Trump is celebrating this latest news as a victory.

"Being woke is for losers, being Republican is what you want to be,” he wrote on Truth Social. “Go get 'em Sydney!”

What does Taylor Swift have to do with this?

Nothing! Neither Sweeney nor Swift have commented on each other.

However, Mr Trump is a long-time critic of the Democratic-aligned Swift and has said that he hates her.

After the Sweeney news, the president shared on Truth Social: “...Just look at woke singer Taylor Swift. Ever since I alerted the world as to what she was by saying on TRUTH that I can’t stand her (HATE!). She was booed out of the Super Bowl and became, NO LONGER HOT.”

Neither Swift nor Sweeney have responded to the president’s post.