Nearly one in five Americans believe in Taylor Swift conspiracy to re-elect Biden

Nearly one in five Americans believe the conspiracy theory that Taylor Swift is behind a secret government plot to re-elect President Biden, according to a new poll by Monmouth University.

In results published Wednesday, 46 per cent of respondents said they had heard the conspiracy theory, and 18 per cent said they believed it.

Of those who believed the theory, 71 per cent identified as Republicans and 83 per cent as Trump supporters. 73 per cent also believed that the 2020 US Presidential election results were fraudulent.

The theory suggests that the US Defense Department is working with the pop star to push pro-Biden propaganda to sway the public away from Trump, and that she may be using the NFL to reach an even broader audience.

“The supposed Taylor Swift PsyOp conspiracy has legs among a decent number of Trump supporters. Even many who hadn’t heard about it before we polled them accept the idea as credible,” said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute. “Welcome to the 2024 election.”

When it comes to the question of whether Swift should encourage her fans to vote in the upcoming election, 68 per cent of the American public approved of the idea. This was split between strong support among Democrats (88 per cent) and weaker support from Republicans (42 per cent).

Asked generally whether they have a favourable impression of Taylor Swift, 39 per cent said they do while only 13 per cent said they held an unfavourable view. 43 per cent said they have no opinion of her, while 5 per cent said they didn’t know who she was.

22 per cent of the 902 adults surveyed called themselves fans of Swift, while just 6 per cent would describe themselves as “Swifties”.

Swift has dominated pop culture in recent months, with a record-breaking world tour, the cinematic release of that tour’s concert movie and multiple Grammy wins. Most recently, she announced a new album and was present in Las Vegas to witness her partner Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs clinch their second successive Super Bowl.

The Independent’s Katie Rosseinsky recently investigated Swift’s cultural ubiquity, writing:

“To say that the past week has been a busy one for Taylor Swift is an understatement. She’s had her potential Super Bowl travel schedule discussed by the Japanese embassy. She’s been branded part of a left-wing psyop designed to secure Joe Biden a second term in the White House.

“She’s been the subject of feverish speculation: was she about to announce the release of a new version of Reputation? Oh, she’s also made Grammy history as the only person to win the Album of the Year trophy four times. And then used an acceptance speech to herald the arrival of another album, The Tortured Poets Department.

“Exhausting, right? But the events of the past week are not anomalous for Swift. Over the past 12 months or so, she somehow seems to have pulled off an impossible feat: levelling up into a strata of fame well beyond the tier of superstardom she’s previously enjoyed.”