“A cultural and economic force”, a “dizzying power”: the Taylor Swift phenomenon worries Donald Trump

Jusqu'où ira la superstar américaine Taylor Swift ? MAXPPP – ALLISON DINNER

Can the most popular singer of all time swing the US presidential election ?

Taylor Swift won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year on Sunday evening in Los Angeles for the fourth time in her career.

One more record for the most listened to singer of all time, to whom we today attribute all the powers, that of boosting the American economy or even causing seismic agitation (from magnitude 2.3), report Le Monde and CNN, with the dance steps of the 144,000 people gathered in July 2023 in a Seattle stadium.

"Taylor Swift is a cultural and economic force", analyzes Jeff Hawkins

Can the 34-year-old American superstar rock the next race for the White House in the same way, where a new Biden-Trump duel is taking shape ? Long discreet about her political leanings, the& rsquo;youth idol came out of the woods in 2018 by sponsoring two Democrats in Tennessee. Two years later, she formalized her support for Joe Biden, accusing Donald Trump of having "fanning the flames of white supremacism and racism" during his presidency, recalls theAFP.

The profile of his fans worries Trump

The singer has also campaigned for LGBT+ rights and abortion. What may be its political significance ? "Taylor Swift is a cultural and economic force in the United States and around the world. Her fans, the “Swifties”, are very devoted to her and follow her in fashion and music, perhaps they would also follow her in politics", analyzes former American ambassador Jeff Hawkins, lecturer at Sciences Po and researcher at Iris.

"Plus, his fans are in a pretty dangerous demographic for Republicans, primarily “millennials” female and white. It is precisely the loss of this demographic that cost the Republicans dearly in 2018 and 2020", he underlines.

"It's not surprising that some Republicans seek to discredit her"

The singer has already shown her ability to mobilize by encouraging young people to register to vote. In September, after the publication of a message on Instagram inviting its approximately 270 million subscribers to go to Vote.org to register, the platform recorded more than 35,000 registrations, i.e. a jump of 23%.

"In addition, adds Jeff Hawkins, Taylor Swift comes from the country music world, is a moderate Democrat. He’s not someone who’s going to scare people who are a little right of center. They will certainly listen to him more attentively than someone who is more fiercely partisan. It's no wonder some Republicans are seeking to discredit her now." 

His image is dirty

Rumors and conspiracy theories sullying his image are multiplying. Here she is accused of being a pawn of the Pentagon or of practicing black magic during her concerts. Fake pornographic images featuring the young woman were also distributed on the social network X.

The singer even finds herself at the heart of a new conspiracy theory, this time alongside her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, the star of the Kansas City Chiefs American football team .

Their romance panics the media but is too good to be true, say conservatives, who denounce a fabricated love story, intended to prepare the ground for a resounding announcement of Taylor Swift's support for Democrat Joe Biden.

Rumours and conspiracy theories

They even claim that the Super Bowl on February 11, in which Travis Kelce's team will participate, will be rigged to bring out the aura of his victory over the outgoing president. "Everyone knows Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are a hoax and the Super Bowl is rigged, says Mike Crispi, a pro-Trump commentator, quoted by AFP.

Far-right commentator Laura Loome assures, for her part, that a "Democratic election interference psychological operation with Taylor Swift is taking place in broad daylight”.

Some conspiracy theorists take advantage of this to rename Travis Kelce, in a pejorative manner, "Mr. Pfizer", a way of reminding us that the player promoted the Covid-19 vaccine.

Philippe Labro: "The dizzying power of Taylor Swift is a phenomenon of our time"

A new way of implicitly confirming the fear inspired by the singer's extraordinary notoriety. Will she be Joe Biden's secret weapon in November ? "The dizzying power of Taylor Swift is a phenomenon of our time, such a star alone can very good at swinging votes. This is perhaps a key to an election where the unexpected will prevail over logic, observes the journalist and writer, Philippe Labro , specialist in the United States.

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