Dem
51
GOP
49
Conspiracy theories are nothing new in right-wing media, but stories about Taylor Swift and her new squeeze, Travis Kelce, are making a huge splash. From her past actions, righties know she is a Democrat. This has led them to spin some truly wild tales.
The biggest current conspiracy theory is that somehow, the Kansas City Chiefs' victory over the Baltimore Ravens was rigged so that the Chiefs can make it into the Super Bowl, their fourth appearance in the past 5 years. Then at halftime, Swift and the Chiefs' tight end, Kelce, will get on the podium to announce their engagement and endorse Joe Biden at the same time. This will cause millions of Swifties to register to vote the next day and they will all vote for Biden on account of the dual endorsement. Needless to say, this is scary stuff, since 53% of U.S. adults say they are fans of the singer and 16% are "avid fans." Among the avid fans, 55% are Democrats, 23% are independents, and 23% are Republicans.
Of course, this is all nonsense. How did Swift get the Ravens to throw the game to the Chiefs? Did George Soros buy them all off? How come nobody leaked that? A lot of people must have been in on the deal, surely some of them Republicans. And how do you explain the fact that the Chiefs made it to the Super Bowl on their own 3 of the 4 years prior to this? Could it be that they simply have a very strong team? That little detail doesn't fit the model, so it has to be discarded.
Clearly Republicans are worried about Swift, though. Fox News' Jeanine Pirro urged Swift not to get involved in politics because it will alienate some of her fans. Sorry, Jeanine, but it is not going to work. Swift, who has two houses in Tennessee, endorsed Democrat Phil Bredesen in 2018 in his attempt to unseat Sen. Marcia Blackburn (R-TN). She also endorsed Biden in 2020 and has advocated for reproductive rights for women. She definitely breaks the mold of celebrities trying to avoid politics (see: Jordan, Michael, on the subject of "Republicans buy sneakers, too"). Many of Swift's biggest fans are young women, some of whom don't pay much attention to politics. Her influence on them is what Republicans are scared of. If she tells them they might need an abortion someday and Republicans want to make sure they won't be able to get one if they ever need it, that could get some of her fans to register and vote (for Democrats). Last September, she urged her fans to register on vote.org, and 35,000 of them did in a single day. Republicans are deathly afraid of what a sustained push could do. (V)