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Nearly 1 in 5 Americans believe Taylor Swift is part of psyop to re-elect Biden

The Swift-Deep State rumours began earlier this year. Credit: Getty

February 15, 2024 - 7:00am

Nearly a fifth of Americans believe Taylor Swift is part of a covert government operation to help President Joe Biden win reelection, a Monmouth poll released Wednesday found. 

Of this group, fully 71% of those who agree are Republican and 83% indicate they are likely to support Donald Trump. Incredibly, the conspiracy gained so much national attention that nearly half of all respondents (46%) had heard of it, according to Monmouth. 

The Swift-Deep State rumours began earlier this year in mostly Right-wing circles online, with claims that the singer’s relationship with professional football player Travis Kelce was being artificially propped up so that she could influence her millions of fans to vote for Biden. Kelce’s appearances in advertisements for Pfizer’s Covid vaccine booster and Bud Light — the beer brand scorned by the American Right — only added fuel to the fire. 

Fox News host Jesse Waters speculated on air last month that Swift was “a front for a covert political agenda”, prompting a public denial from the Pentagon. His claim was also backed by former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who suggested that the outcome of the Super Bowl was rigged in order to help Biden. 

The conspiracy theory gained so much traction that it was even picked up by The New York Times, Politico and The Washington Post. And after the Chiefs, Kelce’s team, won the Super Bowl, the White House itself got involved: “Just like we drew it up,” Joe Biden tweeted on Sunday evening.

Swift is Biden’s top target for celebrity endorsements, according to the NYT. Team Biden suggested sending the president in for an appearance at an Eras Tour performance, and the campaign even had to request in a job posting that applicants stop pitching their “Taylor Swift strategy”. 

Swift’s popularity is at an all-time high. She has 279 million Instagram followers. Her Eras tour was the highest-grossing music tour in history, bringing in well over $1 billion, and the movie version of the Eras show grossed more than $250 million. Meanwhile Travis Kelce saw a 400% increase in jersey sales after Swift appeared at one of his games.

Her selling power apparently applies to politics as well: nearly a fifth of American voters said they were more likely to vote for a candidate endorsed by Swift, according to a Newsweek poll. In such a tight presidential race, that could make all the difference.


is UnHerd’s US correspondent.

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Jim Veenbaas
Jim Veenbaas
7 months ago

Just another garbage clickbait poll. The sample size was 900 people, and of that total, 28% were Republican. How many respondents were actually giving BS answers is probably high because it’s a ridiculous question to begin with, and is begging people to troll.

Swift is firmly behind Biden. There is no question about this. If Swifties vote, they are backing Biden. Meh.

UnHerd Reader
UnHerd Reader
7 months ago
Reply to  Jim Veenbaas

The controversy (and the reason why the Right Wing hate it so much) is that Taylor Swift can increase registrations and encourage her Biden-backing supporters to actually go out and vote. The point isn’t that she will change minds but she will change turn out. And turn out is the Republicans’ main weakness.

Jim Veenbaas
Jim Veenbaas
7 months ago
Reply to  UnHerd Reader

Everyone knows that is a possibility. It was a possibility last election too. No one seriously thinks it’s some kind of conspiracy.

Allison Barrows
Allison Barrows
7 months ago
Reply to  Jim Veenbaas

Last week, Mary Harrington wrote that American conservatives are all terrified of Taylor Swift. Seriously, we don’t give her a thought. This is all just projection by the media, who are terrified of Donald Trump.

Julian Farrows
Julian Farrows
7 months ago

Yeah, I think this is projection too. Perhaps they’re worried that she will endorse Trump.

Sensible Citizen
Sensible Citizen
7 months ago

The fake boyfriend took $20m from pfizer to promote boosters to boys who don’t need them and who might die from them. Swift is part of that grift. No way they’ve ever slept together and no way she isn’t getting paid.

Champagne Socialist
Champagne Socialist
7 months ago

You might want to loosen the tin foil hat just a little there, bub!

Jim Veenbaas
Jim Veenbaas
7 months ago

You can think the conspiracy is silly and still believe the relationship is totally manufactured.

Sensible Citizen
Sensible Citizen
7 months ago

Tin foil hat? If you can’t connect those three dots, then you aren’t paying attention.

Martin M
Martin M
7 months ago

“.…and no way she isn’t getting paid“. Yeah, because she sure needs the money.

Lesley van Reenen
Lesley van Reenen
7 months ago
Reply to  Martin M

I’m not necessarily buying into the theory…. after all we have seen a lot of theories come true, but what you consider money is not a patch on the gazillions changing hands in corrupt deals. One would almost think they are ‘conspiracy’ because the amount of money exchanged is so huge.

Martin M
Martin M
7 months ago

And this concerns Taylor Swift how? She is a singer, and (judging by how many people turn up to her concerts) doing very nicely out of it.

Alex Lekas
Alex Lekas
7 months ago
Reply to  Martin M

Bill Gates doesn’t need the money, either, but it doesn’t stop him from pursuing ways to get more of it, no matter who gets hurt along the way.

Martin M
Martin M
7 months ago
Reply to  Alex Lekas

I have bought many versions of Windows over the years, which has put a fair bit of money into Bill Gates’ pocket. Some of the versions have been better than others, but nobody has ever got hurt (not even by the awful Windows 8).

Sensible Citizen
Sensible Citizen
7 months ago
Reply to  Martin M

You’re obviously out of touch. You may want to read and not comment.

Sensible Citizen
Sensible Citizen
7 months ago
Reply to  Martin M

She doesn’t need the money because she doesn’t do things without being paid.

Lesley van Reenen
Lesley van Reenen
7 months ago

Swift moves through men like sweeties in a lucky packet (excluding the last one that was an aberration). Most of her relationships are superficial.

Martin M
Martin M
7 months ago

A Millennial woman who has a series of superficial relationships? Really?

Champagne Socialist
Champagne Socialist
7 months ago

Of course Trump supporters believe this. They are, by definition, gullible and stupid – they support Donald Trump!!!
I don’t particularly care for Kelce (the brother seems much more fun) but he’s a hell of a football player and a very fine counterpoint to has-been conspiracy theorist, Aaron Rodgers.
Swift’s achievements speak for themselves. And apparently she is making Trump even more nuts than usual so there is also that.
Who does Trump have? Kid Rock and some no name MMA fighters? Another Biden win!

Jim Veenbaas
Jim Veenbaas
7 months ago

This is silly of course. Kid Rock fans were voting Trump regardless. Hardcore Swifties were voting Biden regardless. None of the endorsements make a difference. One interesting note from the survey – 65% of respondents are not a fan. Only 6% are Swifties.

Martin M
Martin M
7 months ago
Reply to  Jim Veenbaas

Yeah, but Swifties are probably a younger demographic, some of whom may be voting for the first time.

Jim Veenbaas
Jim Veenbaas
7 months ago
Reply to  Martin M

The vast majority of Swifties are young girls. They’re voting Dem regardless.

Rob N
Rob N
7 months ago
Reply to  Jim Veenbaas

So why do you young girls vote Dem? Is it just because they want to be looked after rather than look out for themselves? Doesn’t sound very girlboss feminist!

Sensible Citizen
Sensible Citizen
7 months ago

Pfizer has a problem with young men dropping dead while playing sports, which puts a bit of a damper on their $100B vaccine enterprise. Signing Kelce for an astounding $20m to do a few ads makes no business sense, unless they can somehow get the guy into the mainstream. Outside of NFL fans, no one even knew who he was — until Ms. Swift entered the picture.
They overplay the public displays of affection, and they have not had the obligatory bikini on the beach photo ops that have been the cornerstone of her past relationship slash PR campaigns. They aren’t a thing. They are business partners.

Mark Knight
Mark Knight
7 months ago

Which way are you going with this? Stupid right wingers people think she is being used to influence an election, or, a fifth of Americans would vote with Swift? You cannot have it both ways, like the article!

Martin M
Martin M
7 months ago
Reply to  Mark Knight

I think the two “fifths” in question comprise different people. I wonder what the other three fifths will do?

Martin M
Martin M
7 months ago

Executive summary: Nearly one in five Americans are retarded.

Chris Maille
Chris Maille
7 months ago
Reply to  Martin M

judging from the election results, I’d rather say at least 30% of Americans are retarded and a further 10% or so are delusional …

Chris Maille
Chris Maille
7 months ago

Taylor Swift would never be part of anything covert.

Tyler Durden
Tyler Durden
7 months ago

The press and media attention is truly unprecedented for this pretty young woman who produces mediocre pop music and yet makes $100m a year from touring.
So there is no smoke without fire. Everything at this stage is early-stage preparation for a big Democrat media push over the spring and summer.
In other words, they are testing the water for what they can best sell via the left-liberal corporate media class.

UnHerd Reader
UnHerd Reader
7 months ago
Reply to  Tyler Durden

It’s easy to make $100m/year when you have the full backing of the illuminati, federal reserve, Rothschilds and the lizard people. It’s spare change to them and a small price to pay to control the culture and media and achieve Trump-like levels of coverage… wait was that part in the script?

Judy Johnson
Judy Johnson
7 months ago

Why do the American right hate Bud Light?

Alex Lekas
Alex Lekas
7 months ago
Reply to  Judy Johnson

Because the once-popular brand gave a big f-you to its consumers by using a ridiculous gay man who dresses like a 12-year old girl as its sponsor.

Jim Veenbaas
Jim Veenbaas
7 months ago
Reply to  Judy Johnson

The American right doesn’t hate bud light. They detest the trans agenda. Bud light is a mediocre product that is no better than any other beer on the market. It’s just too easy to boycott. If it was a better product, people would still be buying it.

Martin M
Martin M
7 months ago
Reply to  Judy Johnson

It is an awful beer. No argument there.

John Tyler
John Tyler
7 months ago

There’s a lot of passionate commentary for something that’s just clickbait or conspiracy theory! Good grief! She’s an entertainer not a politician!

Graham Stull
Graham Stull
7 months ago

As someone who follows these things fairly closely, I can say this conspiracy is less of a talking point than the coverup of the phenomenal number of excess deaths in virtually every Western country, post-pandemic.
That said, I did know that the Scorpions ‘Winds of Change’ was a CIA psy-op. (That’s a documented fact).
So why wouldn’t they try to leverage Swift’s success?
Or more to the point, don’t they need to wheel out semi-credible explanations for why the ballot results showed another unprecedented increase in turn-out and votes for Biden not predicted by polling?

Martin M
Martin M
7 months ago
Reply to  Graham Stull

So you don’t like the “Taylor Swift Conspiracy Theory”, but embrace the “Excess Deaths Conspiracy Theory”?

Graham Stull
Graham Stull
7 months ago
Reply to  Martin M

Goodness, Martin. With a comment like that, it’s hard to know if you are being willfully obstructionist or have a very hard time understanding context.
As for me ‘not liking’ the TSCT, I made no such claim. If anything I suggested it was not entirely implausible, given known history of the CIA involvement in Western pop culture. I merely pointed out that the theory is not that big a talking point among critical thinkers to whom it is being credited.
In the same vein, I don’t embrace the EDCT, I am merely pointing out that it excites a great deal more attention in the community of critical thinkers than anything Swift related.
Personally, I am not very conspiratorially minded. I think most of the bad outcomes are organic in nature, a symptom of decay in late-stage Western capitalism.
We are like fat carrion flies, too bloated on rotting meat to move when you swat them.