Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute, said the “supposed Taylor Swift psyop conspiracy” has “legs” among Trump supporters. (Getty)
Just under one in five Americans believe a conspiracy theory that Taylor Swift is part of a covert effort to keep Joe Biden in the White House, according to a university poll.
The right-wing conspiracy theory machine has been in full throttle questioning if Swift is a Pentagon plant whose rise to fame, increasing popularity and even her relationship with NFL star Travis Kelce was designed to give the singer a platform to influence elections in favour of Democrats or Biden.
While the claims are absurd and baseless, a poll from Monmouth University found that a chunk of Americans, particularly Republicans, believe in the purported Swift-Biden plot.
Just under half (46 per cent) of the 902 US adults surveyed for the poll reported they’d heard something about the conspiracy theory that Taylor Swift is “part of a covert government effort to help Joe Biden win the presidential election” later this year.
When asked if they believed the bizarre claim, one in five US adults (18 per cent) said they believed the conspiracy.
Interestingly, almost half (42 per cent) of those who said the conspiracy theory exists also said they hadn’t heard about it before being contacted by Monmouth University. So maybe they’re predisposed to believe in conspiracy theories or potentially hold an existing bias against Biden.
Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute, said the “supposed Taylor Swift psyop conspiracy” has “legs among a decent number of Trump supporters”.
“Even many who hadn’t heard about it before we polled them accept the idea as credible,” Murray said. “Welcome to the 2024 election.”
Nearly three-quarters (71 per cent) of those who believe this identify as part of or learn towards voting Republican, and 83 per cent indicated they’re likely to support Donald Trump in the November election.
Also, 73 per cent of those who believed the Swift conspiracy theory holds water also believed the 2020 election outcome was fraudulent.
However, the Pentagon confirmed in January that Swift is not a government plant turned popstar. When it came to that conspiracy theory, the government office said they were “going to shake it off”, referring to Swift’s immensely popular song “Shake It Off”.
Swift endorsed Biden in the 2020 race, but she has not yet supported anyone publicly in the 2024 race for the White House. She has continued to advocate for her fans to be politically active.
On National Voter Registration Day in September, the “Lavender Haze” singer encouraged Swifties to sign up. The single post results in over 35,000 first-time voters registered and over 50,000 people confirming that they were registered, according to Vote.org.
Just before the kickoff of Super Bowl LVIII on Sunday (11 February), Trump attempted to pressure Swift – who featured prominently during the game as she supported Kelcee, a tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs – to not endorse another Biden presidency.
The former president wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social, that Swift and other artists benefited from the Music Modernisation Act, which helped artists more easily earn royalties and licensing fees through streaming services.
The act was passed during his presidency so Trump believed it would be “disloyal” for Swift to go against the “man who made her so much money”.
“Besides that, I like her boyfriend, Travis, even though he may be a Liberal, and probably can’t stand me!” Trump added.