The love story that connected her world to the NFL proved controversial. Kelce's ads promoting Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine and Bud Light — already a target of ire from the right over a social media promotion with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney — have only fueled that raging fire.
The NFL's fan base is huge and diverse, but includes a deeply conservative element that has encouraged star quarterback Aaron Rodgers' one-man campaign against coronavirus vaccines and mocked Black players who kneel during the national anthem. The association has long faced accusations of misogyny, from the front offices of Washington leaders to multiple instances of sexual and domestic assault and abuse.
Taylor Swift, right, watches from the booth alongside Travis Kelce's mother, Donna Kelce, at Chief Arrowhead Stadium.credit: AP
For some, the Swift-Kelce story was a blow to traditional gender norms, as a rich, powerful woman lifted a successful footballer to a new level of fame.
Some of the Monday morning quarterback rants were downright ridiculous, including speculation that Swift is giving Kelce a run for his money. (Her net worth is over $1 billion, which is a world apart from just the status of a wealthy athlete.)
Other accusations appear to be driven by fear and based on some truth, or at least the control she has over her 279 million Instagram followers: that she has enormous influence and has supported Democrats in the past. For most of her extensive music career, Swift has avoided politics, but in 2018, she endorsed two Democrats in Tennessee, where she owns two homes: former Gov. Phil Bredesen, who was running for Senate against then-Rep. Marsha Blackburn, and Jim Cooper. , a member of the House of Representatives who has since retired.
“I have always cast and will continue to cast my vote based on which candidate will protect and fight for the human rights I believe we all deserve in this country,” she wrote on social media. “I believe in the fight for gay rights, and that any form of discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender is wrong.”
“I think the systemic racism that we continue to see in this country toward people of color is terrifying, disgusting, and widespread,” she added.
The alarm bells were loud enough to attract Trump to loudly endorse Blackburn: “I'm sure Taylor Swift knows nothing about it,” he said at the time, knowing full well how influential Swift was. “Let's say I like Taylor's music 25% more now, okay?”
He may have admired her less in 2020 when she criticized his pandemic response and then endorsed Biden.
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While her early pop music may have mainly appealed to tweens and teens, as these fans reached voting age, her music became more sophisticated with the albums. forever And folklore To fit her millennial roots and the tastes of her fans.
Much of the paranoia around Swift has been lurking on the MAGA fringes, with people like Loomer, the conspiracy theorist from Florida who declared in December that “2024 will be MAGA vs Swifties” and Kirk, who declared in November that Swift would “be out for the world.” presidential election” after Democrats had another strong showing in the election that showed the abortion issue galvanized voters to the polls.
“All the Swift family wants is a quick abortion,” he said.
Swift's criticism then reached Fox News in mid-January. Host Jesse Watters suggested that the star was a Department of Defense asset engaged in psychological warfare. He linked Swift's political voice to her friend's endorsement from Pfizer to the notable success of her IRAs tour, which boosted local economies and landed her on the cover of a magazine. time.
“Have you ever wondered why or how it exploded the way it did?” Watters asked on air. “Well, about four years ago, the Pentagon’s psychological operations unit brought up turning Taylor Swift into an asset during a NATO meeting.”
Andrea Haley, CEO of Vote.org, took advantage of Fox News' criticism, saying the organization's partnership with Swift “helps all Americans make their voices heard at the ballot box,” adding that the star is “not a psychopath.” Reference or Pentagon asset.
But her appearance on the field with Kelce in Baltimore after the Chiefs' victory over the Ravens on Sunday, complete with a kiss and a hug, seemed to have sent conservatives into an apoplectic fit that may only grow in the lead-up to Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas on Feb. 11.
The sentiment was so strong that Fox News ran a segment on Sunday lamenting that Swift's private jet was “emitting tons of carbon dioxide emissions,” showing a surprising awareness of the primary cause of global warming.
Ramaswamy said his Super Bowl guess was too risky.
“What your people call ‘conspiracy theories,’ I simply call a combination of collective motivations hiding in plain sight,” he said.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre fanned speculation further by invoking the Hatch Act, which prohibits political actions by civil servants, in declining to answer whether Biden would appear with Swift.
“I'll leave it there,” she said Monday. He added: “I will not delve into the president's agenda at all from here, regarding the 2024 elections.”
The Trump campaign, which initially planned to ignore the madness, sent Carolyn Levitt, a campaign spokeswoman, to allay concerns about a possible Biden endorsement.
“I don’t think this endorsement will save him from the disaster” of his record, she said.
This article originally appeared on New York times.
