Taylor Swift hasn’t said a word about the 2024 presidential election. But the mere prospect that the pop superstar might endorse President Biden has conservatives on Fox News abuzz.
“Why would someone as popular as her upset your fans, the Swifties?” said Jeanine Pirro on “The Five,” before addressing the singer directly. “So don’t interfere! Don’t get involved in politics! We don’t want to see you there!”
“Please don’t believe everything Taylor Swift says,” demanded one commenter, Charly Arnolt. “We’re all begging you.”
And Sean Hannity, using his prime-time soapbox on Tuesday night, suggested that Democrats were misleading Ms. Swift. “Does Taylor realize that the guy she’s supposed to be supporting is some kind of stumbling, bumbling mess?” he asked.
“Perhaps,” Mr. Hannity added, “she wants to think twice before making a decision about 2024.”
Such unsolicited advice for Ms. Swift surfaced on Fox News this week as supporters of former President Donald J. Trump have adopted an increasingly conspiratorial worldview about Ms. Swift’s possible involvement in the presidential campaign.
Right-wing activists have indulged in unfounded speculation that Ms. Swift’s romance with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce — a kind of all-American pairing of football star and wholesome pop icon — is an invention of the Democrats, or perhaps the National Football League, um to get unsuspecting Americans to boost Super Bowl ratings or vote for Mr. Biden in November.
A version of this theory aired on Fox News in mid-January, when host Jesse Watters floated the idea that Ms. Swift was a government employee engaging in psychological warfare. He suggested that the resounding success of their Eras concert tour was supported by the Ministry of Defense. “Have you ever wondered why or how it exploded like that?” Mr Watters asked the audience. (He admitted he didn’t have any hard evidence: “If we had it, we’d share it.”)
Mr Kelce was also mocked when Mr Watters referred to him as “sponsored by Pfizer” because Mr Kelce recorded advertising for Pfizer’s Covid vaccine.
But this week’s comments from Mr. Hannity, Ms. Pirro and others were more aimed at dissuading Ms. Swift, who has 279 million followers on Instagram, from throwing her cultural weight behind a political candidate they don’t like. Their on-air discussions were sparked in part by reports that the Biden campaign had viewed Ms. Swift, who endorsed Mr. Biden in 2020, as the president’s dream lawyer.
Sounding alarmed, Ms. Arnolt told Fox host Martha MacCallum that there were 35,000 new registrations when Ms. Swift urged her fans to vote in a social media post. Voters “have to be careful because she doesn’t do what she says,” Ms. Arnolt said, noting that Ms. Swift flies on a private plane “and yet constantly talks about climate change.” It was a kind of eco-scolding, like her is a rare occurrence on a cable network whose guests often express skepticism about global warming.
Mr. Hannity, who has described himself as “not a Swiftie,” on Tuesday linked Ms. Swift to one of Fox News’s favorite bogeymen: George Soros, the financier and Democratic donor. He aired an old clip in which Ms. Swift said that Mr. Soros’ son, Alex, helped finance the sale of her song catalog to producer Scooter Braun. “Does Taylor actually realize that the Soroses are big donors to left-wing and Democratic causes?” Mr. Hannity asked.
His guest, Tomi Lahren, suggested that Ms. Swift’s relationship with Mr. Kelce would make her less inclined to support Mr. Biden because she “spent some time in Kansas City among normal people.” Ms Lahren added: “I expect that she will probably keep her mouth shut when it comes to politics and I think that’s the best we can ask.”
Another “Hannity” guest, Fox News contributor Charlie Hurt, urged viewers not to dismiss the bizarre conspiracies about Ms. Swift, citing “so many examples of the Biden cartel pulling out all the stops and using everything has what is available to them as a weapon against their enemies.”
The focus on Ms. Swift from the right is seen by some analysts as a misguided political strategy. “Republicans haven’t won the popular vote in 20 years, so now we’re trying the novel strategy of attacking one of the most popular pop stars in the world and … the NFL,” said Alyssa Farah Griffin, a former Trump administration official and a co-host of “The View,” wrote on X.
Not all references to Ms. Swift on Fox News are negative. On Brian Kilmeade’s Saturday show, he asked Fox Sports analyst Jay Glazer about the Swift phenomenon.
“She’s a genius at what she does,” Mr. Glazer replied. “The NFL is a genius in the way they market things. Could not be better. There’s nothing to hate here. In my opinion, it’s all love.”
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2024-01-31 17:19:39
www.nytimes.com
