This year’s Superbowl – a set-up to make singer Taylor Swift successful and help the Democrats win the election? What US Democrats scoff at seems quite logical to US Republicans.
Vivek Ramaswamy, billionaire tech entrepreneur and Trump fan, has a penchant for conspiracy theories. The storming of the Capitol: instigated by the FBI. Action against climate protection: worse than the climate crisis.
And when it comes to Taylor Swift, her partner and football star Travis Kelce, and the elections, Ramaswamy also has dark forebodings: “I’m wondering who will win the Super Bowl,” the failed Republican presidential candidate recently wrote on X, earlier Twitter. “And I wonder if there will be a big support campaign for the president this fall from an artificially culturally inflated couple.”
Football player Travis Kelce from the Kansas City Chiefs and musician Taylor Swift also showcase their relationship on the sidelines of the games. Republicans even see this as a political campaign.
Millions of “Swifties” should go to the polls
The failed Republican presidential candidate is not alone in his fears: Hundreds of posts are circulating on social networks suggesting that the outcome of America’s most important football game in mid-February has long been a set-up. Swift’s partner’s team, the Kansas City Chiefs, will win – in order to secure even more influence for the pop icon. Swift will then use this to help Biden win the election.
Swift, the Democrats’ remote-controlled secret weapon: The right-wing conspiracy theorist Jack Posobiec has been advocating this thesis for a long time. “They are getting ready to use Taylor Swift to use her against Trump and Biden,” Posobiec said recently on his video podcast “Human Events Daily.” The Democrats’ aim is to get millions of “Swifties” to vote: “You’ll see it!”
Fox News is spreading the narrative
According to one variation of the conspiracy theory, Swift actually works for the Defense Department and is used by the Pentagon for psychological warfare. This is also propagated by Fox News. As evidence, its star moderator Jesse Watters referred to an event organized by the US Department of Defense at NATO four years ago, in which Swift was named as an example of an influential influencer against disinformation. Watters made the point that the Pentagon was trying to recruit Swift – which the Defense Department denies.
In the liberal part of America, such theories cause scorn and ridicule. “Am I understanding this correctly?” asked late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel: “The same people who believe that Joe Biden is demented also believe that he has hatched a diabolically brilliant plan to manipulate the football playoffs “So that the biggest pop star in the world can hypnotize her eleven-year-old fans from the big screen during the Super Bowl so that they will then vote for him?” and added sarcastically, “Yeah, that makes sense.”
Swift’s influence on fan voting behavior
But the fear in the Trump camp about Swift’s influence in the election is not completely unfounded: the 34-year-old repeatedly criticizes the ex-president harshly. She already recommended Joe Biden for election in 2020. And: According to a current survey commissioned by “Newsweek” magazine, at least a third of people under 35 would follow Swift’s election recommendation again.
Biden’s team is therefore trying intensively to recruit her as a campaign candidate, the New York Times reported a few days ago.
So far, the 34-year-old has not yet commented. Her boyfriend Travis Kelce, who has become the most famous football player in the USA thanks to his relationship, explained in a football podcast: He and Taylor are together, support each other and have fun. There is nothing more. Even if others would try to make them an enemy: “We’re just having fun with it.”
Julia Kastein, ARD Washington, tagesschau, February 2nd, 2024 11:00 p.m