Right-wing media targets Taylor Swift with absurd conspiracy theory ahead of Super Bowl |

Right-wing media targets Taylor Swift with absurd conspiracy theory ahead of Super Bowl | WIW

With the Kansas City Chiefs on their way to Super Bowl LVIII, influential MAGA Media personalities began spreading conspiracy theories about the pop superstar, promoting the confusing notion that he is part of a massive psychological operation orchestrated by the NFL and the Democratic Party. . . 2024 Presidential election for President Joe Biden.

Attacks on Swift have been steadily increasing for weeks (see Fox News host Jesse Watters, who asked on Prime Time earlier this month if Swift was, say, “Pentagon property,” but it reached a fever pitch Monday. The support of Biden and the fact that narrow-minded CEO Travis Kelce, with whom she is dating, appeared in an ad campaign for pharmaceutical giant Pfizer. Adding fuel to the fire was a story in The New York Times on Monday that said Biden wanted Swift’s endorsement again this -year.

“I wondered who was going to win the Super Bowl next month,” Vivek Ramaswamy, a failed 2024 presidential candidate who spread conspiracy theories about the January 6 uprising and the legitimacy of the 2020 elections , posted on Monday X. “And I wonder if the artificially culturally supported married couple will get significant presidential support this fall. Just wild speculation here, we’ll see how it plays out over the next 8 months.”

Ramaswamy responded to a post by far-right conspiracy theorist Jack Posobiec, who shared a version of the theory in an interview with Roseanne Barr, a famous actress who in recent years has fallen into far-right online fever. . Posobiec said he believes the Democratic Party and other forces are preparing for an operation to use Taylor Swift against Donald Trump in the election. Barr agreed, saying that Swift is “definitely someone who agreed to speak the way the establishment wants them to speak” and that they will try to use her influence to come out on top in the next election.

Of course, it wouldn’t be surprising if Swift endorsed Biden, as she did in 2020. After all, celebrity endorsements are a big deal in presidential campaigns, and Swift has waded deeper into political waters over the years by encouraging her fans to vote.

But to suggest that Swift, one of the most powerful entertainers on Earth, is being quietly manipulated by sinister forces in a grand conspiracy orchestrated by the establishment is ludicrous. And yet, precisely this type of rhetoric has infiltrated the increasingly polluted information environment of the country.

“Taylor Swift is an op,” wrote Benny Johnson, a right-wing media personality with millions of followers on various social media sites. “It’s all fake. You’re being played.”

“Taylor Swift election fixing by the Democrats is happening out of nowhere,” added Laura Loomer, a self-described Islamophobe whom Trump has embraced and promoted. “It’s no coincidence that Biden’s current and former managers are endorsing Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce. They plan to use Taylor Swift as a poster boy for their pro-abortion GOTV campaign.

“The NFL is all in for the Kansas City Chiefs. . , Taylor Swift and Mr. Pfizer (Travis Kelce),” admitted Salem Media host Mike Crispi. “All to spread DEMOCRATIC PROPAGANDA. We’re calling it now: KC wins, goes to the Super Bowl, Swift walks out at halftime. and “supports” Joe Biden and Kelce in center field.

“It’s been all business since day one,” Crispi concluded.

The constant anti-intellectual onslaught continues and many other MAGA Media personalities who spend their days spewing garbage at their audience.

It can be easy to dismiss this nonsensical thinking because it bears no resemblance to reality. And the fact that, in the greater scheme of things, this troubled mindset does not dominate. But it would also be wrong to abandon rhetoric altogether. The figures promoting it have significant influence in the Republican Party and have millions of followers who turn to them for news and information.

“Individuals and movements spreading conspiracy theories about Taylor Swift sound ridiculous because that’s what they are,” said Jared Holt, who studies extremism and disinformation for the nonprofit think tank Strategic Dialogue. “But they are also the main source of information for modern conservatives, and they have the financial backing of the Republican elite to spread just this kind of nonsense.”

“To me,” Holt added, “it’s a sign of how distant and out of touch the conservative media is today, and it makes you wonder what they’re really trying to accomplish here.”

After all, fighting Swift and her legion of die-hard fans isn’t something you can just shake off..