Taylor Swift performs during the Eras Tour at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood on Monday, August 7, 2023. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Allen J. Cockroaches | Los Angeles Times | Getty Images
Taylor Swift supported President Joe Biden’s victorious 2020 campaign — and while she hasn’t yet endorsed Biden’s reelection bid, allies of former President Donald Trump are already preparing to do so.
Swift, the pop music megastar so influential that her recent tour is having a tangible impact on the U.S. economy, is increasingly being targeted by criticism and conspiracy theories from Trump’s allies.
These attacks have increased ahead of the Super Bowl, which Swift is expected to attend to cheer on her boyfriend, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.
Vivek Ramaswamy, a former Republican presidential candidate who has supported Trump, wondered aloud on X, formerly Twitter, whether an “artificial culturally supported couple” would support Biden after the Super Bowl.
Ramaswamy even suggested that the outcome of the Super Bowl itself would be manipulated to boost Biden, although he added that it was “just wild speculation.”
Travis Kelce #87 of the Kansas City Chiefs celebrates with Taylor Swift after a 17-10 win against the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship Game at M&T Bank Stadium on January 28, 2024 in Baltimore, Maryland.
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Trump attorney Alina Habba, who is representing the former president in a federal civil defamation case in which a jury last week ordered Trump to pay $83.3 million in damages, reposted a message on Monday saying she was positive about Swift is compared.
“Who thinks this country needs a lot more women like Alina Habba and a lot less like Taylor Swift?” Read the social media post Habba shared on her Instagram Story.
Earlier this month, Fox News host Jesse Watters floated the idea that Swift was some kind of political asset for the Pentagon.
Swift was already a mega-celebrity when she endorsed Biden in 2020. But in the years since, she has achieved a level of fame and cultural prominence that makes her closer to a folk hero than a pop singer.
In addition to breaking records, ticket sales for their concerts crashed Ticketmaster’s website and sparked a backlash over outlandish ticket prices, a fiasco that prompted Congress to intervene.
Her appearances at professional football games after she began dating Kelce increased coverage of the sporting events and massively increased ratings.
Her power also extends to politics: An Instagram post in September urging her 279 million followers to vote drew a wave of tens of thousands of new registrations to the website Vote.org.
So it’s no surprise that Swift’s endorsement is reportedly the biggest prize the Biden campaign is seeking as the Democratic incumbent prepares for a rematch of the 2020 race against Trump.
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A Biden campaign spokesman and a representative for Swift did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
A Buffalo Bills fan holds a cardboard cutout of Taylor Swift during the second quarter of the AFC Divisional Playoff game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, New York.
Timothy T. Ludwig | Getty Images
Rolling Stone reported earlier Tuesday that Trump had been in discussions with Republican and conservative media figures in recent months about the prospect of Swift endorsing Biden.
While the Trump campaign hasn’t officially confirmed these discussions, Swift is clearly on their minds in the context of November’s election.
“Joe Biden may be counting on Taylor Swift to save him, but voters are looking at these sky-high inflation rates and saying, ‘We’re never getting back together,'” campaign spokesman Jason Miller said in a statement to CNBC.
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2024-01-31 12:56:15
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