Taylor Swift: Will the singer decide the US presidential election?

analysis

Pop and politics
Biden’s election campaign hope: How powerful is Taylor Swift?

She is the biggest pop star in the world: Taylor Swift is the first artist to simultaneously occupy all ten positions in the top ten of the American singles charts. Their fans, who call themselves “Swifties,” sometimes pay thousands of euros to get one of the competitive concert tickets. After the news of her relationship with American football professional Travis Kelce, the number of female viewers of the sport skyrocketed. Most recently, “Time Magazine” named Taylor Swift Person of the Year 2023. Now the 34-year-old has the chance to go from a pop culture icon to a political icon.

Two losers are competing for the Oval Office

After Donald Trump’s victory in the primaries in Iowa and New Hampshire, it becomes clear that the 2024 US presidential election campaign will be a duel between two losers. On the one hand, Donald Trump: He was already defeated by Biden in the 2020 election campaign, and this time court cases are also weakening him. On the other hand, the incumbent: Only about 40 percent of Americans are comfortable with the job Joe Biden satisfied, a historically low value. It’s no surprise that the most powerful man in the world is hoping for help from the world’s currently most successful pop star. His campaign strategists are asking, according to a report by the “New York Times” Stars for support on Instagram and TikTok. The focus is on one name: Taylor Swift, who already supported Biden in the 2020 presidential election campaign.

Donald Trump likes Taylor Swift’s music “25 percent less”

Swift was long considered apolitical. The American started her career with country music and for a long time refrained from alienating parts of her conservative fan base with political statements. In 2018, she broke her silence: In the run-up to the midterm elections, Swift expressed solidarity with the LGBTQ movement and criticized Republican candidate Masha Blackburn for homophobic comments: “I can’t vote for anyone who doesn’t want to fight for the dignity of ALL Americans, no matter who they are Skin color they have, what gender or who they love,” Swift wrote on Instagram at the time and called on her followers to go vote – with resounding success: Tens of thousands registered to vote in the following 24 hours, more than usual in a whole year Month. Donald Trump then rumbled that he now liked the singer’s music “25 percent less”. At that time, Swift was followed by 112 million people on Instagram – today there are 297 million. It is this potential that the Biden campaign team now wants to tap into.

Could a statement from the superstar actually be decisive in the election? The US newspaper “Newsweek” conducted a survey on this subject. The opinion research institute “Redfield & Wilton Strategies” surveyed 1,500 Americans: A full 18 percent of the participants would be more or more likely to vote for the candidate that Taylor Swift supports. 17 percent of those surveyed would rather not vote for the singer’s candidate; for 55 percent, the singer’s opinion does not play a role in their voting decision. Among the voters who would be convinced by a statement from Swift are the young voters who are courted by Biden: The 81-year-old is having a hard time with the young target group.

Conspiracy narrative surrounding Taylor Swift’s partner

The US political right has already chosen Taylor Swift as an opponent. The conspiracy story that Swift is a secret agent for the Pentagon has been circulating for a long time. Former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy recently took part in speculation that the American football league NFL was manipulated. “And I wonder if an artificially constructed couple will publicly announce their support for a presidential candidate in the fall,” the politician wrote on will arise.

Back in September, California’s Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom predicted that Taylor Swift would have a “profound impact” on the 2024 presidential campaign. According to forecasts, the result could be very close – it is quite possible that nuances will ultimately make the difference in the election result.

Sources: “New York Times“, “Newsweek“