Vivek Ramaswamy, former White House candidate against Trump, now his squire, suspects aloud that the singer’s popularity (beloved by 53% of US adults in surveys) is being manipulated for political purposes by the Pentagon’s Psy-Op: the secret unit that deals with psychological warfare. Other Republican commentators argue that idolatry for the celebrity risks destroying sports and government.
Janine Pirro, another TV host close to Trump, gets to the point: “Taylor, what are you doing? Taylor Swift is even the target of Republican conspiracy theories, suggesting she is being manipulated by the Pentagon (in favor of the Democrats).
Taylor Swift has been in the spotlight of Trump supporters: will she support Biden? In fact, she has had to deal with other issues so far: getting fake porn videos that use her image removed from the internet and apologizing to football fans who were furious because during the Chiefs’ semifinal a few days ago, the cameras often focused on her instead of the field (“it depends on the direction, not me”).
But it is likely that Swift will eventually support Biden: according to the New York Times, the White House is insisting that the 81-year-old president, who is struggling with popularity, needs support among young people. Who follow Swift: when, in September, she invited her 279 million Instagram followers to vote, within 24 hours, 35,000 went to register to vote.
The singer knows that if she takes a stand, she will pay a price, but neutrality also has a cost: in 2016, she remained silent and after Trump’s election, she was criticized by the left. She admitted she was wrong and has supported Democratic candidates in Tennessee in the 2018 elections and Biden in 2020.
In traditional political terms, the fear of Republicans may be that of a situation repeating itself like in 2012 when Obama, less popular than in 2008, struggling in the polls with Mitt Romney, sought help from figures like Bruce Springsteen and Stevie Wonder who helped him to victory by taking the stage and singing during the last rallies of his campaign. But Trump is not a traditional politician: he is not concerned about the votes that Taylor Swift can bring to Biden.
He took for granted that she would support him and thinks the damage is limited. He is infuriated by the growing number of cases that shift the focus to the star, leaving him in the shadows: a blow to his narcissism and a political harm, given that The Donald has built his electoral fortunes on the ability to always remain in the spotlight.
A month ago, he was furious with Time magazine for choosing Taylor instead of him as person of the year. Now, according to various media, he continues to tell his collaborators “I am more popular than Taylor Swift.”
Perhaps the Trump supporters spreading the slogan “2024 MAGA vs. Swifters” are not doing him a favor. *Corriere della Sera is also on Whatsapp.
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