In recent polling by YouGov and The Economist, those rating popular singer Taylor Swift as favorable significantly outnumbered the share with a favorable view of Donald Trump, the former president and continued front-runner for the GOP’s presidential nomination this year.
Among general respondents, 59 percent shared a favorable view of the singer, with 31 percent expressing an unfavorable perspective. For Trump, his level of favor was lower while disfavor towards him was higher, with 46 percent rating him favorably and 50 percent viewing him unfavorably. Trump’s numbers were particularly low among Black respondents and those identified as ideologically moderate.
Swift has faced a series of strange conspiracy theories from the Right, including the suggestion on Fox News — that even the Defense Department joined in mocking — that she is a secret agent of the federal government, somehow. And right-wing influencers have also complained about her, including after Time magazine selected the singer as their “Person of the Year” for 2023. Mike Crispi, a failed GOP candidate for Congress in New Jersey, recently said on X (formerly Twitter) that the NFL is “RIGGED” for Swift and her current partner (a player on the Kansas City Chiefs) to advance “DEMOCRAT PROPAGANDA.”
“As for this conspiracy theory, we are going to shake it off,” Defense Department spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said of the secret agent idea, referencing here and in the following some of the singer’s most well-known music. “But that does highlight that we still need Congress to approve our supplemental budget request as Swift-ly as possible so we can be out of the woods with potential fiscal concerns.” The prepared remarks were shared with the news publication POLITICO.
And recently, Trump personally made his own strange outreach into pop culture, suggesting on Truth Social (his knock-off social media site) that he resembles the deceased singer Elvis Presley. No matter Trump’s posting of an image edited to show part of his face alongside Elvis, the ex-president was promptly mocked.
