CNN’s Jake Tapper mocked the unfounded conspiracy theories emerging from the far right about pop star Taylor Swift, the NFL and the Democratic Party on Tuesday.
“Far-right conspiracy theorists certainly don’t seem to be following Taylor Swift’s advice to just ‘Shake It Off,’” Tapper said on CNN’s “The Lead.”
“In fact, some on the right are all-in on pushing deranged claims that Taylor Swift is part of this deep state psychological operation or psy-op plots by the deep state, the NFL and the Democratic Party to help deliver the 2024 presidential election to Joe Biden,” he continued.
Social media has been flooded with conservative pundits promoting an unfounded claim that the NFL is rigging the Super Bowl in favor of Swift’s boyfriend Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs, as President Biden’s campaign is reportedly seeking an endorsement from the singer.
This spike in the claims came after the Chiefs beat the Baltimore Ravens in a playoff game Sunday to clinch a Super Bowl appearance, prompting some skeptical football fans to claim the NFL has rigged the playoffs.
The New York Times reported earlier this week that Biden’s campaign is said to be interested in a “dream” endorsement from Swift, who conservatives appear to fear will swing the election in favor of the Democratic Party. Swift has gotten involved in politics before, endorsing Biden in 2020 and speaking out against Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn (Tenn.) in 2018.
Tapper then displayed social media posts from conservatives who were commenting on the conspiracy theories. This included posts from former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and conservative media personality Benny Johnson.
“I wonder who’s going to win the Super Bowl next month,” Ramaswamy wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “And I wonder if there’s a major presidential endorsement coming from an artificially culturally propped-up couple this fall. Just some wild speculation over here, let’s see how it ages over the next 8 months.”
Tapper then played a clip from Swift’s “Miss Americana” documentary, released in 2020, in which she explained her decision to speak out against Blackburn in 2018 and endorse the Democratic candidate, Phil Bredesen, in the Senate race.
“She votes against, against fair pay for women. She votes against the reauthorization of the, of the Violence Against Women Act, which is just basically protecting us for domestic abuse and stalking,” Swift said in the clip.
Tapper noted that because Blackburn won in 2018, it does not appear that the “master psy-op” to boost the Democratic Party worked then.
“Perhaps the far right could take some heart from that, since this master psy-op didn’t seem to actually work in Tennessee, but let’s talk about it anyway,” Tapper said.