Is this a reflection of the fear inspired by his extraordinary notoriety?
Singing icon Taylor Swift finds herself at the center of a conspiracy theory again, this time alongside her football star boyfriend and President Joe Biden.
The Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce couple has been panicking the media for months.
She, the wealthy pop star who fills stadiums, breaks records and hangs out with Hollywood stars while maintaining an image of simplicity;
him the big American football player from the Kansas City Chiefs with mischievous eyes, both party animal and
“good guy”
.
Ultra-publicized, their romance has so far been so perfect that it could serve as the plot for a romantic comedy.
But it's too good to be true, squeak right-wing commentators and personalities, who have begun to mass propagate a conspiracy theory surpassing in inventiveness the numerous ones that preceded it.
This time it is a question of saying that the love story is fabricated and that it only serves to prepare the ground for a public and resounding announcement by Taylor Swift of her support for Democrat Joe Biden before the presidential election in November.
For the same purpose, the Super Bowl on February 11, the high mass of American football in which Travis Kelce's team will participate after dominating the Ravens on Sunday, will be rigged - many conservatives assure - to ensure that the Kansas City Chiefs win.
A glory that would reflect on the outgoing president.
Electoral interference?
“I wonder who will win the Super Bowl next month
,” Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, who was a candidate for the White House before rallying behind Donald Trump, a probable rival, pretended to wonder on by Mr. Biden on November 5.
“And I wonder if a major announcement of support for a presidential candidate, coming from an artificially hyped couple, is not being prepared for this fall
,” he added.
Mike Crispi, a pro-Trump commentator, added.
“EVERYONE knows Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are a hoax and the Super Bowl is rigged
,” he wrote.
As for far-right commentator Laura Loomer, she asserted that
“the Democrats' psychological election interference operation with Taylor Swift (was) taking place in broad daylight.”
Among the people promoting this theory, several take the opportunity to call Travis Kelce, in a pejorative manner,
“Mr. Pfizer”
.
To the great dismay of anti-vaccine people, the player actually promoted this company's Covid vaccine.
Taylor Swift, adored by legions of fans in the United States and around the world, has for several years aroused resentment, even hatred, among some on the right.
Between rumors and real commitments
Long secret about her political leanings, the youth idol came out of the woodwork by sponsoring two Democrats in Tennessee in 2018.
And in 2020, she officially announced her support for Joe Biden against Donald Trump, accusing the Republican of having “
fanned the flames of white supremacism and racism throughout (his) mandate.”
While it is difficult to assess the exact impact of this support, the star is very popular among young women of voting age and she has the capacity to mobilize a portion of young people by encouraging them to register to vote.
Also read To mobilize young voters, the EU is counting on... Taylor Swift
When it published a message on Instagram in September inviting its more than 270 million subscribers to go to the Vote.org platform to register, the organization had recorded more than 35,000 new registrations that day, i.e. a jump of 23% compared to the same day a year earlier.
In the past, the artist has campaigned for the rights of LGBT+ people and opposed the Supreme Court's decision to remove the constitutional guarantee of the right to abortion.
Hence, perhaps, the proliferation of rumors and conspiracy theories about her, such as those claiming that she is a pawn of the Pentagon or that she performs black magic during her concerts.
This weekend, false pornographic images featuring the young woman were broadcast on X, causing the search for “Taylor Swift” to be temporarily blocked on the network.