Since The New York Times revealed that the Biden campaign is actively seeking the support of singer Taylor Swift, various commentators and conservative leaders have begun to criticize Swift or, in some cases, question the star’s critics.
Jack Posobiec, senior editor at Human Events, is one of the conservatives who questioned Swift the most recently, dedicating entire programs and posts on X (Twitter) to the singer.
One of the theories that Posobiec suggests in his programs is that Swift is a psychological operation (PSYOP) by the federal government to influence the 2024 elections.
However, the editor defended himself and stated that the media is attacking him for no reason for criticizing the artist: “It was the entire media that told us that Taylor Swift was Biden’s secret weapon in 2024; all we did is repeat it back to them.”
BENZ: IT WAS THE ENTIRE MEDIA THAT TOLD US TAYLOR SWIFT WAS BIDEN'S SECRET WEAPON IN 2024
ALL WE DID WAS REPEAT IT BACK TO THEM https://t.co/nwJgqvS1uC
— Jack Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) January 31, 2024
Other conservative commentators, such as Benny Johnson, also suggested that the massive success of Swift, who even won TIME magazine’s “Person of the Year” award, could be due to the singer being part of a PSYOP.
Nothing says "Taylor Swift is not a psy-op" like every major Corporate News show parroting the same talking points about her at once.
We broke the media. We're telling you exactly how we did it this morning on @TheBennyShowPod
TUNE IN LIVE AT 11AM ET: https://t.co/0dTRP4mQOC pic.twitter.com/nKZ8q26M5V
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) January 31, 2024
Johnson interviewed Donald Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, over the controversy. Leavitt harshly questioned the singer for her songs about her problematic love relationships: “They’re calling it their Hail Mary pass to drag Biden over the finish line.. This woman has made a career off of writing songs about picking the wrong guy. We should not trust her to pick the wrong guy in this presidential election.”
Trump National Press Secretary @kleavittnh brutally ROASTS the Taylor Swift psyop to rig 2024 for Joe Biden:
“They’re calling it their Hail Mary pass to drag Biden over the finish line.. This woman has made a career off of writing songs about picking the wrong guy. We should… pic.twitter.com/wi9XysBB7B
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) January 30, 2024
However, many conservatives are responding to comments like those of Johnson and Posobiec.
Jeffrey Blehar, columnist in the conservative magazine National Review, published a column with a more than suggestive title: “For the Love of God, Taylor Swift Is Not a Joe Biden’ Psyop.’”
Here is the only piece you will ever need to read about the crucial "Is the Taylor Swift/Travis Kelce/NFL romance crossover REALLY a Democrat psyop?" question.
My latest (and it actually gets unusually thoughtful aside from my typical nonsense) for @NRO: https://t.co/1NhhEGqN2Y
— Jeff Blehar is *BOX OFFICE POISON* (@EsotericCD) January 29, 2024
In his column, Blehar criticizes conservatives for a fundamental issue: not being able to electorally attract artists like Swift or, ultimately, her fans.
Others shared Blehar’s view, such as James Surowiecki, editor at The Yale Review: “Taylor Swift embodies the GOP’s core electoral problem: she’s a well-off thirty-something woman from an upper-middle-class family in a swing state, a woman who presents as quite conventional in gender terns, and yet the idea that she would ever vote for Trump is patently absurd.”
Taylor Swift embodies the GOP's core electoral problem: she's a well-off thirty something woman from an upper-middle-class family in a swing state, a woman who presents as quite conventional in gender terns, and yet the idea that she would ever vote for Trump is patently absurd.
— James Surowiecki (@JamesSurowiecki) January 31, 2024
Ben Shapiro, editor emeritus of the Daily Wire, questioned conservatives for implying that the singer is a PSYOP. The presenter argues that it is not strange that Swift supports Biden because, in fact, she already did so in 2020, and there is nothing strange about it. He directly asked the artist’s critics to “stop being nuts.”
If Joe Biden’s team is counting on Taylor Swift to save his campaign, that’s nuts. Also nuts: the Pentagon conspiracy theory that Biden’s Tay-Tay endorsement is a deep state plot to win the presidency. She endorsed him in 2020. STOP BEING NUTS, PEOPLE.
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) January 30, 2024
Matt Walsh, Shapiro’s colleague at the Daily Wire, was not far behind and took stock of the controversy surrounding Taylor Swift, explaining that the artist is much less woke than other figures in the entertainment world and does not deserve the conservative world’s contempt.
“If I were to make a list of the most degenerate and objectionable pop stars who have done the most harm to our culture and the most damage to young minds, Taylor Swift wouldn’t even make the top 50. Not sure why she has become the focus of our wrath,” Walsh wrote.
“Yes obviously she’s a lib and will tell people to vote for Biden,” the host continued. “That’s the case for almost anyone who is even vaguely relevant in the entertainment industry, which is a problem conservatives need to figure out how to solve. But obsessively complaining about Taylor Swift doesn’t seem like an effective counter-strategy.”
If I were to make a list of the most degenerate and objectionable pop stars who have done the most harm to our culture and the most damage to young minds, Taylor Swift wouldn't even make the top 50. Not sure why she has become the focus of our wrath.
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) January 31, 2024
Other commentators, however, distanced themselves from both positions and tried to ridicule the controversy around Swift because she is receiving more attention than she deserves.
“I don’t see anyone “attacking” Taylor Swift; people are observing that it’s obvious she is going to be hard in for Biden 2024. The rigged game stuff is people being cheeky. Welcome to the internet. People make jokes,” wrote author Mike Cernovich.
Auron MacIntyre, columnist at TheBlaze, commented that for the Biden Administration, the controversy surrounding the singer is a convenient distraction so that conservatives ignore the border battle between Texas and the federal government.
“If the news cycle is about Taylor Swift or the right’s reaction to Taylor Swift, it isn’t about the optics nightmare of the Biden administration losing control of the border to Texas and Greg Abbott,” MacIntyre wrote.
