Far-Right Snowflakes Are Terrified of the Super Bowl and Taylor Swift
By: Matt Lewis (The Daily Beast)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
DUMB STATE
The big-brained tough guys of online see the Kansas City Chiefs' fourth Super Bowl appearance in five years as evidence of a Deep State psy-op.
Matt Lewis
Senior Columnist
The paranoid style of the "red-pilled" right was on full display after the Kansas City Chiefs upset the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship game Sunday night—and the alpha male "fuck your feelings" crowd began to collectively imagine a Deep State bogeyman everywhere, even among the most macho and violent of team sports (not to mention their own 13-year-old daughter's Spotify).
In case you missed it, not only is Taylor Swift an FBI and Pentagon psyop, the Deep State is also rigging the NFL to make one of the world's most famous entertainers and her already Hall of Fame-bound boyfriend, Travis Kelce, "artificially" famous.
Think I'm making this up—or just "nut picking" the rantings of a few obscure randos in the fever swamps of the right? This crazy conspiracy is quickly gaining steam. Take Vivek Ramaswamy, for example. In response to Pizzagate pusher Jack Posobiec, the failed presidential candidate tweeted, "I wonder who's going to win the Super Bowl next month. And I wonder if there's a major presidential endorsement coming from an artificially culturally propped-up couple this fall…"
He may be "just asking questions," but Ramaswamy's unhinged insinuation was generally greeted with applause on Twitter. One response came from a verified account with 55,000 followers, who added: "Nothing feels organic about Taylor's rise—or this whole 'relationship'—or now this whole Superbowl thing." (Note: This sentiment is widespread, with some version of the phrase "not organic" being constantly invoked to describe the Chiefs' playoff win—and the Swift-Kelce romance.)
But did the Deep State build Swift in a laboratory last year? Swift's first hit, "Tim McGraw," came out when George W. Bush was president. Her smash hit pop album, 1989, came out almost a decade ago. So yeah, this was all a long con.
Meanwhile, the Chiefs are headed to their fourth Super Bowl in just five years. And anyone who watched Sunday's playoff game versus the Ravens (including the catches made by Swift's boyfriend Travis Kelce) knows rigging the outcome would have been a million times harder to fake than the moon landing.
So why is this happening? It is obvious that many on the new right view Swift as a serious threat to Donald Trump's electoral chances. And—putting aside the crazy conspiracy theories about "psy-ops," etc.—they do have a point.
It's safe to say that Taylor Swift is incredibly popular—perhaps even more popular than you realize. She's not just "famous." A recent NBC News survey, for example, showed Swift has the highest net favorability rating of any person or group tested in the poll.
The new breed of culture warrior understands the power of…pop culture. They see Joe Biden as an old fart who can't possibly defeat their celebrity, Donald Trump. But they also see the potential for Swift to have a major impact by rallying her army of "Swifties" to register to vote (in 2020, one Instagram post from Swift reportedly led to 35,000 new registered voters), and then to turn out and vote for the slightly older of the two codgers.
What is more, it is true that Swift does have a political motive—and not just because of the recent attacks she has endured. After staying out of the 2016 race, Swift endorsed Biden in 2020. It's no secret that Biden desperately wants her involved in 2024.
And if the potential for her to utilize her mega-fame weren't enough, Swift is now allied with one of the greatest players currently in the National Football League.
Travis Kelce displays all the masculine behavior that these right-wing keyboard warriors fetishize (they also hate him for starring in a COVID vaccine commercial, a move that inspired conspiracy theory-obsessed New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers to go after Kelce for being a tool of Big Pharma).
And if Travis isn't enough of a threat to the narrative about "latte liberals," look no further than his older brother, Jason (a center for the Philadelphia Eagles and also likely Hall of Fame-bound), who is the kind of guy who recently celebrated his brother's on-field performance by drinking 40 beers and going shirtless in frigid Buffalo.
Yeah, good luck trying to cast the Kelce brothers as soy-drinking "pajama boy" elites or Colin Kaepernick-like activist types.
The idea that Swift, Kelce, the Chiefs, and the NFL are all part of some Deep State conspiracy is only slightly less plausible than the idea that leveling such an allegation could actually work politically.
Still, those who are desperate to piece together some tenuous conspiracy theory will find threads where they can.
After sexually explicit deepfakes forced X to temporarily pause searches for the pop star, right-wing YouTuber Tim Pool tweeted, "see this is all part of the psyop," adding that disabling the search for images that run counter to X's terms of service means users can't "search for the psyop." (Following the tortured logic of Pool's conspiracy theory, the online far-right's favorite billionaire—X owner Elon Musk—would have to be personally overseeing this "psyop.")
While this particular narrative is just now coming into focus, similar strands of paranoid idiocy have already been going on for months. And like many narratives on the far-right, the most unhinged allegations seem to have been started by QAnon, before trickling into more mainstream places. A few weeks ago, for example, Fox News host Jesse Watters said Swift could be a "front for a covert political agenda."
People who are predisposed to believe this will, of course, believe anything. That is dangerous enough. But just as the Kelces can't easily be other-ized, Swift simply cannot be Hillary-ized the way a polarizing politician—as opposed to a widely beloved pop star—could be. This is a fight that the paranoid right would be wise not to pick. But, of course, they will. They have. This is what they do.
"Haters gonna hate."
Matt Lewis
Senior Columnist
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We havent seen this level of unhinged nonsense from the right, about a celebrity, since the Obamas were in the news all the time.
MAGAs are in panic for one reason, that being the large number of people Taylor Swift is getting to register to vote! That’s it & that’s all. And they can’t admit it publicly because that would be an admission a large voter turnout favors Democrats, & would likely neutralize gerrymandering which favors GOP candidates.
Only the MAGA CROWD OBJECTS TO AMERICANS VOTING IN REPRESENTATIVE NUMBERS.
Taylor Swift expedites democracy and that scares the shit out of fascists, racists, antisemites, misogynists, xenophobes, Nazis & the resentful, ignorant loser!
A large voter turnout has always favored democrats.
Far right-wing fascists are in the minority.
Definitely.
Her popularity-- and her huge number of followers-- are amazing!
Regardless of who the Democratic nominee for president, i predict the the Republican candidate will loose, and by a wide margin.
For two reasons (& Taylor Swift is one of the reasons!!!)
MAGAs are in panic for one reason, that being the large number of people Taylor Swift is getting to register to vote!
And the vast majority are the youngest cohort (Gen Z)-- who tend to be a group that is the most progressive in their views...
www.meidastouch.com /news/taylor-swift-causes-maga-meltdown
Taylor Swift Causes MAGA Meltdown
Ron Filipkowski 3-4 minutes 1/29/2024
Get ready for the "Woke" Super Bowl
Right-wing conspiracy theorists in the MAGA movement had a difficult time coping last night as the Kansas City Chiefs, led by an incredible game from their star Tight End Travis Kelce, defeated the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship Game to advance to the Super Bowl. Kelce's girlfriend Taylor Swift (you may have heard of her also) was on the field to celebrate with him with a congratulatory kiss.
What is the source of MAGA animosity towards the couple? Sure, some are just monetized social media accounts that post click-bait angertainment designed to trigger people to engage with them because traffic is money. Those are relatively easy to spot and best ignored. It is also a reason to post screen shots of their comments rather than engage with their accounts directly. Don't feed the trolls! But there is a group of MAGA influencers who are quite serious about their conspiracy that the entire relationship is a contrived con-job to make the NFL money and to re-elect Joe Biden.
I wrote this article about these conspiracies six weeks ago. There are different variations, but generally it goes like this: That Biden wanted to find a way to chip away at the MAGA base of beer drinking, white male football fans by luring an immensely popular NFL star like Travis Kelce into the fold. Who better to do for Deep State operatives than a beautiful, wealthy, and talented pop star? They point to the additional "evidence" that Kelce is now a major endorser for Bud Light and the Pfizer covid vaccine. These right-wing conspiracy theorists then believe that, close to the presidential election, Swift and Kelce will join forces in an effort to register and turn out a massive number of Swifties and football fans to vote for Joe Biden.
The influence of Taylor Swift on her fans is undeniable. It is also true that a huge percentage of them are younger people who have never voted or maybe voted in one election. Many are not active politically and may not be well-versed on all the issues. They may also be leery of voting for a candidate who is 80 years old. According to MAGA, that is where Swift comes in. Although she was clearly a Biden supporter in 2020, Swift has been somewhat cautious not to go all-in on political activism by endorsing candidates or appearing at political events. She has largely focused on attempts to register voters, knowing at the same time that the vast majority of her fans who do register will be voting Democratic.
But the fear among MAGA is that Swift may take her activism one step further in this election in order to finally vanquish Trump, and if she is joined by Kelce that would make her message that much more effective. It remains to be seen whether Swift will actually do that, but all the signs are there that she is ready to get more openly involved this time around. Whether Kelce chooses to do so is very much an open question, since he has said almost nothing publicly about politics. However, becoming the face of brands hated by right-wingers like Pfizer and Bud Light is an ominous sign for them.
Here are some screen shots from across the spectrum of MAGA mania about Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce:
MAGA Says Taylor Swift/Kelce Relationship is an Op for 2024 Election
From the day the news broke that Taylor Swift was dating Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce, MAGA has been very triggered. They saw and understood the impact that Swift had on the 2020 election and is having on voter registration, and fear than she will be even more politically active for Biden in 2024.
That is one thing.
But Swift teamed up with Kelce has their conspiratorial minds working overdrive, fearing that Kelce's popularity with working class, rural white male voters, combined with Swift's with suburban and younger women, will be a lethal combination for Republicans at the ballot box if they jointly are all-in against them.
Naturally, they claim that this entire thing is a psychological operation by the Deep State, because nothing happens organically with conspiracy theorists. I have watched over the past month as post after post, podcast after podcast in the right-wing echo system has wrung their collective hands and lost their twisted minds about the looming Swift-Kelce threat to their Orange Jesus.
This week, Charlie Kirk devoted several lengthy segments on his podcast to this conspiracy, which have focused on the dark and sinister forces behind the relationship, their assertion that Kelce is really not a very good football player and Swift is really not that talented a performer.
"It's totally a conspiracy. Travis Kelce is an op. He's an average football player. Then you have Taylor Swift, who's also an op. I'm supposed to believe the love story? Oh, I just happen to stumble into Mr. Pfizer, Mr. State Farm just in time for the 2024 election? I don't believe it."
Even one of his guests was incredulous, questioning the sanity of Kirk's argument, but Kirk stuck to his guns:
"It's 100% a 2024, get-out-the-vote operation to go through middle America, depress the MAGA vote, and try to win single women."
Kirk then claimed that CAA put the couple together in a fake relationship to carry out the plan:
"Somebody at CAA, the Creative Arts Agency, said, 'Oh, I see it. Middle America MAGA country that likes their football, their beer, and we're going to put them together and we're gonna combine it."
On his Human Events podcast, Pizza Gate provocateur Jack Posobiec also devoted his show to the Swift/Kelce 2024 conspiracy with guest Evita Duffy from The Federalist. Posobiec:
"What we're seeing is a very advanced psychological operation. She is going to shill for Biden and she going to turn her massive fan base for Biden in this election ... There is nothing interesting or special about Taylor Swift's music."
Duffy said that the staff at The Federalist recently discussed the Swift problem: "Her music is a sign of civilizational decline. This is not objectively good music ... This is a psychological movement on the part of the Left and the media ... This is someone who is mediocre in all ways ... If the Democrats come to her and asks her to do something, send out a tweet, she does it. She falls in line. Once the election rolls around, Taylor Swift is going to go all-in for Biden."
and that's why people shouldn't smoke crack.
As a longtime KC resident and Chiefs fan, I find it cool that Travis and Taylor have found each other and have fallen in love. Fuck a bunch of far-right online haters!
We are talking about MAGA. They celebrated anything bad happening to American as that is something they can blame President Biden for.
US troops attacked? Blame Biden! US troops killed? Blame Biden! Putin invades Ukraine? They blame Biden! The MAGA are un-American trash.
They can turn anything into a conspiracy. That seems to be how they entertain themselves.
We all know it JR, we all know. They're nuts...
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this is too easy
Vivek Ramaswamy suggests Super Bowl could be rigged to help Taylor Swift, Biden
LMAO, these people are nutty. Squirrels beware you have competition.
These nuts are asking people to support the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl.
You know, San Francisco, the city they hate.
OH, damn...does this mean I can't root for the 49'ers? I hate the Chefs
I am rooting for the traditional wings, pizza, beer and 3 carrot sticks so we can say we had veggies.
Don't really care about the game but the commercials are sometimes entertaining.
There are some Chefs that I don't care for, but I'm a Chiefs fan big time.
It's my understanding that Swiftie will be added as an additional tight end for the Super Bowl.
So you hate the Chiefs because they are so damn good year after year with Mahomes as QB?
Nope, she hates the Chefs not the Chiefs.
I'm sure that it's the truffles that the Chefs come up with that drives the hate.
Come and tailgate at Arrowhead and our chefs will change your mind. Best BBQ ever!
It's more personal than that. My asshole BIL is a big Chiefs fan. That's why I hate them
"Chefs" is our mocking term for the Chiefs
Hehehehe, hard to mock a team that has won two super bowls and is playing in their 4 in 5 years. Go CHEFS.
I really, really dislike my asshole BIL.
I feel this guy's pain. My daughter's first birthday cake read "Happy Birday"
If it was her first then she couldn't read yet, could she?
No, but her dad could...and he took a photo for posterity and showed it to her when she could read.
That is a great commercial with Reid and the guy painting the end zone Chefs.
It's funny as can be.
Too funny, good for dad.
Newsflash:
There are kooky people out there.
Details at eleven ……
Biden/Swift 2024.
Swift/Biden might have a better chance
Swift/Kelce 2028.
Taylor Swift isnt going anywhere and the MAGA nutcases arent going anywhere so this is going to go on for a long long time.
Swift is a billionaire because she is a great singer/songwriter.
Travis will be in the hall of fame because he is equally as great.
They make a very cute couple.
Oops forgot to mention that Swift is the best business woman on the face of the planet. She isn't a billionaire just for her voice and looks.
This is strange, most conservatives do not like the cities of San Francisco or Balitmore
So it comes down to Central USA against the leftist coast?
Trust me; it comes down to Mahomes, Kelce and the Chiefs.
Anybody who votes for anyone because Taylor Swift said too is a fucking moron.
Never understood people that vote for the anyone because of a celebrity endorsement. Talk about leaving your brain checked at the door.
I wonder who will have a bigger impact on voters? do you think Swifty's were trump voters who were going to change based on her opinion?
Now these voter historically support democrats.
After Years of Beef, Snoop Dogg Now Says This Is Why He Has ‘Nothing But Love and Respect’ For Donald Trump
Snoop Dogg On Why He Has ‘Nothing But Love and Respect’ For Donald Trump – Billboard
As Jason Kelsey said, ''Swift had a great rookie year, she made it to the Super Bowl''.