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Donald Trump’s allies in American politics and the conservative media have led a conspiracy-fueled rhetorical offensive against Taylor Swift, taking on the world’s most recognizable pop star amid fears she could influence the 2024 election. favor of Joe Biden.
Attacks on Swift from the right have escalated dramatically in recent days, making one of America’s most successful cultural symbols a target on the front lines of the country’s bitter political culture wars.
An apparent trigger for Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement vitriol was Swift’s decision on Sunday to cheer, hug and kiss her boyfriend Travis Kelce on the Baltimore field after their Kansas City football team Chiefs, will get a place in this season’s Super Bowl.
Then a New York Times article appeared on Monday suggesting that Swift was the “biggest and most influential endorsement target” for Biden’s re-election campaign.
Among the accusations leveled against Swift by some Trump allies is the claim that she is part of a plot, also involving the National Football League, to keep Biden in the White House.
“I wonder who will win the Super Bowl next month,” Vivek Ramaswamy, a biotech investor who ran for the Republican presidential nomination but is now backing Trump, wrote about X. couple strengthened this fall.”
Although Swift’s music and performances have not been considered particularly political, she has previously sided with Democrats, citing her advocacy for women’s rights and her opposition to white supremacy. She has also urged her fan base, mainly young people and women, to vote in the elections.
He endorsed the Democratic candidate in the 2018 Tennessee Senate race, and Biden in the 2020 general election, and in his 2020 documentary. american miss He said he was “sad” that he did not speak out against Trump in 2016. “These are not your father’s Republicans,” he told his family in the film.
Trump hasn’t commented on Swift recently, but his aides have been quick to mock both the pop star and Biden.
“They call it their Hail Mary pass to drag Biden to the finish line,” Karoline Leavitt, a spokeswoman for the former president’s 2024 campaign, told a conservative radio host.
“This woman has made a career out of writing songs about choosing the wrong guy. “We shouldn’t trust her to pick the wrong guy in this presidential election.”
Other attacks were directed at both Swift’s fans and the singer.
“They’re elevating her to idol status, idolatry,” Newsmax host Greg Kelly said. “And you’re not supposed to do that. In fact, if you look it up in the Bible, it’s a sin! So, I don’t like that. And I’m also over this new boyfriend.”
The right’s fury over Swift is an example of the “malaise of polarization that has the nation divided,” said Henry CW Laurence, chair of the government department at Bowdoin College.
“And more importantly, it shows that there are people who will use any kind of divide to create some kind of artificial division where there is no need for it to exist,” he added.
Biden’s advisers have tried to use the controversy to portray his opponents as extremists.
“To the extent she’s told us about her politics, it’s really just about not being hateful,” Kate Bedingfield, former Biden White House communications director, posted on X. “Protect the rights of women and the LGBTQ community. That’s all. She is not attacking the estate tax platform,” she added, referring to one of Washington’s top conservative think tanks.
But Democrats will also hope that Swift can emerge as a powerful outside force to help Biden in his re-election bid, when he needs a lot of help generating enthusiasm within the base and among younger voters. The couple has been a phenomenon, creating a pop culture crossover that has had their fans salivating over new images and sightings on social media. Her partner has also brought legions of Swifties, as her fans are known, into the NFL arena.
American companies have joined the hype: American Airlines, for example, has scheduled Flight 1989 to go from Kansas City to Las Vegas on February 9 and 10 for the Super Bowl, in reference to the couple’s shared birth year and to the title of Swift’s album.
For his part, Kelce has drawn the ire of the right for appearing in ads for Pfizer and Bud Light’s Covid-19 vaccine. Some conservatives boycotted the beer last year after a promotion featuring transgender social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
“I hope the Biden campaign figures out how to get Taylor Swift out of her lair,” Jon Lovett said in I could save America, a podcast run by former Barack Obama officials. “But it’s also about Taylor Swift. You’ve built up a lot of goodwill. It’s time to spend it. Your country needs you.”
Universal Music Group, Swift’s label, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the artist. An NFL spokesperson said: “Football is for everyone. Enjoy the game.”
Additional reporting by Sara Germano in New York