Fox News to Taylor Swift: 'Don't get involved in politics!'
Taylor Swift hasn't said a word about the 2024 presidential election. But the mere prospect that the pop superstar could endorse President Biden has left conservatives on Fox News confused.
“Why would someone as popular as her alienate your fans, the Swifties?” Jeanine Pirro said on “The Five,” before addressing the singer directly. “So don't get involved! Don't get involved in politics! We don't want to see you there!”
“Please don't believe everything Taylor Swift says,” urged one commenter, Charly Arnolt. “We all beg you.”
And Sean Hannity, using his prime time soapbox Tuesday night, suggested that Democrats were leading Ms. Swift astray. “Does Taylor realize that the man they want to support is some kind of stumbling block?” he asked.
“Maybe,” Mr. Hannity added, “she will want to think twice before making a decision about 2024.”
Such unsolicited advice for Ms. Swift appeared on Fox News this week, as supporters of former President Donald J. Trump have adopted an increasingly conspiratorial worldview about Ms. Swift's future involvement in the presidential race.
Right-wing activists have indulged in baseless speculation that Ms. Swift's romance with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce — a kind of quintessential American pairing of football stars and wholesome pop icons — is a fabrication cooked up by Democrats, or perhaps National Football League, to trick unsuspecting Americans into boosting Super Bowl ratings or voting for Biden in November.
A version of that theory aired on Fox News in mid-January, then host Jesse Watters suggested the idea that Ms. Swift was a government asset engaged in psychological warfare. He suggested that the overwhelming success of her Eras concert tour was aided by the Ministry of Defense. “Did you ever wonder why or how she blew up like that?” Mr Watters asked the viewers. (He admitted he didn't have solid evidence: “If we did, we'd share.”)
Mr Kelce has also been ridiculed, with Mr Watters calling him “sponsored by Pfizer” because Mr Kelce ads to promote Pfizer's Covid vaccine.
This week's comments by Mr. Hannity, Ms. Pirro and others, however, were more aimed at dissuading Ms. Swift, who has 279 million followers on Instagram, from throwing her cultural weight behind a political candidate they don't like. Their on-air discussions were prompted in part by reports that the Biden campaign had considered Ms. Swift, who endorsed Mr. Biden in 2020, as a dream lawyer for the president.
Ms. Arnolt sounded alarmed, telling Fox host Martha MacCallum that when Ms. Swift encouraged her fans to vote in a social media post, this delivered 35,000 new registrations. Voters “should be careful because she doesn't walk the talk,” Ms. Arnolt said, noting that Ms. Swift flies on a private plane, “but she talks about climate change all the time.” It was the kind of eco-shaming that rarely appears on a cable network whose guests are often skeptical about global warming.
Mr. Hannity, who has declared himself “not a Swiftie,” drew a connection Tuesday between Ms. Swift and one of Fox News' favorite boogeymen: George Soros, the financier and Democratic donor. He vented an old clip in which Ms. Swift said that Mr. Soros' son, Alex, helped finance the sale of her song catalog to producer Scooter Braun. “Does Taylor actually realize that the Soroses are major donors to left-wing and Democratic causes?” Mr. Hannity asked.
His guest, Tomi Lahren, suggested that Ms. Swift's relationship with Mr. Kelce meant she would be less likely to support Mr. Biden because she “spent some time in Kansas City with regular people.” Ms. Lahren added: “My money is that she will probably keep quiet about politics, and I think that's the best we can ask for.”
Another “Hannity” guest, Fox News contributor Charlie Hurt, told viewers not to ignore the bizarre conspiracies about Ms. Swift, citing “so many examples of where the Biden cartel has pulled out all the stops and used what they had available. as a weapon against their enemies.”
The right's focus on Ms. Swift is seen by some analysts as a misguided political strategy. “Republicans haven't won the Popular Vote in 20 years, so now we're trying the new strategy of attacking one of the most beloved pop stars in the world and … the NFL,” said Alyssa Farah Griffin, a former Trump official government and a co-host of “The View,” wrote on X.
Not all references to Ms. Swift on Fox News are negative. During Brian Kilmeade's Saturday show, he asked Fox Sports analyst Jay Glazer about the Swift phenomenon.
“She's a genius at what she does,” Mr. Glazer replied. “The NFL is a genius in the way they market things. It could not be better. There's nothing to hate here. I think in my opinion there is just love.”