The Daily Populous Friday February 23rd, 2024 morning edition
Authored by theguardian.com and submitted by diacewrb

Just under a fifth of Americans believe Taylor Swift is part of a conspiracy to help Joe Biden win re-election in November, a new poll found.

“The supposed Taylor Swift psyop conspiracy has legs among a decent number of Trump supporters,” said Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute, in a statement on Tuesday.

“Even many who hadn’t heard about it before we polled them accept the idea as credible. Welcome to the 2024 election.”

According to the New Jersey college, 18% of respondents said they believed in the conspiracy while 46% said they had heard about it.

The conspiracy theory flourished in rightwing media after the singer started dating Travis Kelce, a star tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs NFL team.

Swift endorsed the US president over Donald Trump in 2020, a move the White House is reportedly seeking to ensure she repeats this year. Kelce has endorsed Bud Light beer and vaccinations against flu and Covid-19, targets for rightwing ire.

Last Sunday, the Chiefs’ Super Bowl win over the San Francisco 49ers unfolded without a rumoured half-time intervention from Swift, supposedly to endorse Biden in his likely presidential election rematch with Trump. Nor did Kelce propose.

But the game did end with the Chiefs victorious, also supposedly part of Biden’s fiendish plan.

Biden’s social media team gleefully tweeted a “Dark Brandon” meme, showing him with lasers for eyes, and the message: “Just like we drew it up.”

Trump later said Swift would be “disloyal” if she endorsed Biden, because she had benefited from the Music Modernization Act, concerning royalties from streaming services and passed when Trump was president.

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According to the Monmouth poll, while 73% of respondents said they did not believe the Taylor Swift conspiracy existed, 9% said they did not know either way.

Nearly three-quarters (71%) of those who said they believed in the conspiracy also identified with or leaned towards the Republican party; 83% said they would support Trump in November.

The poll also found that though more than two-thirds of Americans (68%) approved of Swift encouraging fans to vote, more than twice as many Democrats (88%) as Republicans (42%) held that opinion.