Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce
Just when you thought MAGA Republican men, especially Donald Trump, had said every stupid thing they could say and done every stupid thing they could do, along comes a headline like this -- "Trump Allies Pledge ‘Holy War’ Against Taylor Swift." That sounds like something out of The Onion, but it's not a joke. Trump and his MAGA minions actually are so childish, insecure, and imbecilic that they are threatening a young woman who just happens to be the most popular entertainer on earth, maybe the most popular human on earth, because . . . well, that's not clear -- but it's apparently because she has attended a few NFL football games to watch her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, play for the Kansas Chiefs. And now, with the Super Bowl almost upon us, Trump supporters have concluded that this is obvious evidence that Swift is an agent for Joe Biden, and the two are conspiring with the NFL to derail Trump's run for the presidency -- a position for which he is disqualified anyway.
As if that weren't embarrassing enough, Trump had to unleash his inner toddler and tell associates that he is more popular than Taylor Swift. Given that Swift's current Eras Tour has passed $1 billion in gross ticket sales for 2023 and is expected to top $2 billion total, Trump's brain is more miswired than many of us thought -- if he really thinks he can win a popularity contest with Taylor Swift. To top it off, Swift has sold an estimated 114 million album units worldwide and, in terms of pure sales, tallied 46.6 million in the United States and 7 million in the United Kingdom. According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), her albums have garnered 51 million certified units in the United States. Add all that up, and "The Donald" is staring at a monstrous deficit on the popularity scale. He might want to consider taking on someone else in a popularity contest.
While all of this is off-the-charts nutty, even by postmodern Republican standards, it also is serious. We live in a gun-soaked culture, and all it would take is one MAGA loon to fire a pot shot at Taylor Swift -- and our warped political culture has led to a tragedy.
At the moment, we do not know exactly what Trump and his allies have done regarding threats against Taylor Swift. But if they have crossed a boundary into inciting violence, she likely could press criminal charges against those involved. She and her family, and perhaps Kelce, could have grounds for a lawsuit that might clean out what is left of Trump's fortune. As usual, Trump and his allies might be flaunting the rule of law and playing with legal fire that could turn into a costly conflagration.
How did we get to this point? Yahoo! explains, with original reporting from Rolling Stones'
Singer-songwriter Taylor Swift hasn’t even endorsed President Joe Biden for re-election yet. That hasn’t stopped members of MAGAland’s upper crust from plotting to declare — as one source close to Donald Trump calls it — a “holy war” on the pop megastar, especially if she ends up publicly backing the Democrats in the 2024 election.
According to three people familiar with the matter, Trump loyalists working on or close to the former president’s campaign, longtime Trump allies in right-wing media, and an array of outside advisers to the ex-president have long taken it as a given that Swift will eventually endorse Biden (as she did in 2020). Indeed, several of these Republicans and conservative media figures have discussed the matter with Trump over the past few months, the sources say.
While Swift has not yet issued an endorsement in the 2024 race, The New York Times reported Monday that Swift is a key name on Biden aides’ “wish lists of potential surrogates.” A potential Swift appearance at Super Bowl LVIII alongside her boyfriend, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, has already prompted the MAGA right’s culture-war pugilists into a conspiracy-fueled froth about how this NFL season has been rigged to boost Biden.
The thought of Taylor Swift waging a campaign against Trump apparently has bruised the former president's fragile ego,
Behind the scenes, Trump has reacted to the possibility of Biden and Swift teaming up against him this year not with alarm, but with an instant projection of ego. In recent weeks, the former president has told people in his orbit that no amount of A-list celebrity endorsements will save Biden. Trump has also privately claimed that he is “more popular” than Swift and that he has more committed fans than she does, a person close to Trump and another source with knowledge of the matter tell Rolling Stone.
Last month, the source close to Trump adds, the ex-president commented to some confidants that it “obviously” made no sense that he was not named Time magazine’s 2023 Person of the Year — an honor that went to none other than Swift in December.
In an email to Rolling Stone, Trump campaign senior adviser Jason Miller shrugged off the prospect of a Swift endorsement for Trump’s rival. “Joe Biden might be counting on Taylor Swift to save him, but voters are looking at these sky-high inflation rates and saying, ‘We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,’” Miller wrote.
In its The Morning newsletter, The New York Times recently ran the headline "The End of Economic Pessimism. The story shows that the Biden economy is rocking along in very good shape, and that includes declining inflation, so to no one's surprise, Miller, the Trump associate, has no clue what he is talking about:
The former president has already taken public swipes at Swift because of her endorsement of two Tennessee Democrats running during the 2018 midterms. “I like Taylor’s music about 25 percent less now,” Trump said following the pop singer’s statement.
Swift also blasted Trump during the 2020 election, accusing him of trying to “blatantly cheat and put millions of Americans’ lives at risk” following the Trump administration’s efforts to hinder mail-in voting amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, as Trump has been having a popularity contest with Swift in his own head, others close to him — including GOP operatives, some of his 2024 staff, and Trump-y media figures — have been brainstorming different ways to go after Swift. Since late last year, these Trump allies have repeatedly discussed how to turn the culture-warrior dial up to 11 if she re-endorses Biden this year, the sources recount.
What does it mean to "turn the culture-warrior dial up to 11"? A reasonable person could take that as a threat, which suggests that not only is Trump reckless and dangerous with language, but so are the people around him. Perhaps it provides insight on how Trump came to face four criminal indictments (totaling 91 counts), along with various civil matters that appear to be draining his bank account. Naturally, Trump has to blame someone else for his legal troubles, given that he seems genetically incapable of taking responsibility for anything -- and that's not a great quality in someone who poses as a legit (although disqualified) presidential candidate:
“It would be more fuel thrown onto the culture-war fires,” says an official working on the Trump reelection efforts. “Another left-wing celebrity who is part of the Democrat elite telling you what to think.”
Is anyone aware of Taylor Swift telling others what to think -- or is this another case of a Trump acolyte putting his ignorance on display? No wonder this guy didn't want his name attached to such an inane quote.
How devilish are Trump and the sycophants who reside in his space? The Rolling Stone reporters shine light on that question:
Publicly, members of Trump’s inner sanctum and social circle are already signaling Swift’s prominent position atop their enemies list — a situation that has reached fever pitch now that Swift’s boyfriend will once again be playing in the Super Bowl.
On Monday, Trump’s lawyer Alina Habba shared a post on social media that includes the caption: “Who thinks this country needs a lot more women like Alina Habba, and a lot less like Taylor Swift?” (Habba has represented Trump in the E. Jean Carroll defamation case, where he was ordered to pay $83 million.)
Fox News host Jeanine Pirro — who’s acted as an informal political adviser to Trump, including during his presidency — warned Swift to stay out of 2024: “Don’t get involved. Don’t get involved in politics; we don’t want to see you there,” the Fox host said. “Joe Biden is in [a] hole with young people, he knows it. And if he thinks Taylor can get him out of that hole, he’s gonna go for it.”
That sounds like a right-winger telling Swift what to do -- the very thing another Trumper accused Swift of doing. Is it possible for MAGA types to speak a single sentence without engaging in psycholigical projection? Doesn't look like it.
The tendency to find conspiratorial nonsense behind every shrub appears to be a GOP-wide phenomenon:
Former GOP presidential hopeful and current Trump hype man Vivek Ramaswamy took to Twitter following the latest Chiefs’ playoff win to claim that unnamed forces would rig the Super Bowl to give the as-yet nonexistent endorsement from the “artificially culturally propped-up couple” increased visibility.
MAGA pundits have spent months fuming about Swift and her boyfriend — already a hated figure for his role as a Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine spokesman.
Is it possible the MAGAs have time to fume about Swift and Kelce because they have no policy agenda to run on, no governance-related achievements they can point to? Of course, Trump has stated numerous times that a second term for him would be all about retribution against his perceived enemies, so he has no policy agenda. How is that supposed to help everyday Americans? Answer: It can't, and it won't
During a rant in November about the GOP’s losses across a string of state elections and abortion-related ballot initiatives, Turning Point USA founder and Trump ally Charlie Kirk warned that Swift was “going to come out in the presidential election” and “mobilize her fans,” adding that “all the Swifties want is swift abortion.” Fox News host and Trump buddy Jesse Watters declared Swift a potential “Pentagon psyop” and “a front for a covert political agenda” during a segment earlier this month.
Taylor Swift is a Pentagon psyhop? How do these people dream up this stuff?
Others working to put Trump back in the White House say that the liberal celebs can bring it on.
“Since Biden is so weak, they need others to shore up his credibility. Won’t matter [since] his disapproval is driving the race. Voters aren’t fools,” John McLaughlin, a top pollster for Trump, says, in response to Rolling Stone’s questions regarding Swift. “Celeb endorsements of Biden are like donating to Nikki Haley. They are a means of virtue signaling. It’s like wearing a medical mask in public after Covid.… Celebrities can endorse Biden, but it doesn’t lower inflation, stop wars, fix the border, or lower crime. Biden’s job approval still sucks. So Trump is still winning and will win.”
I agree that voters aren't fools, so why does Mr. McLaughlin think they aren't smart enough to eventually catch on to this: The Biden economy is strong, not weak?
Spokespeople for Swift and Trump did not immediately respond to Rolling Stone’s requests for comment on this story.
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