Singer-songwriter Taylor Swift hasn’t even endorsed President Joe Biden for re-election. That hasn’t stopped members of MAGAland’s upper crust from waging what a source close to Donald Trump calls a “holy war” against the pop megastar, especially if she publicly supports Democrats in the 2024 election.
Trump loyalists working on or close to the former president’s campaign, longtime Trump allies in the right-wing media and a number of the ex-president’s outside advisers have long had it, according to three people familiar with the matter taken for granted that Swift will eventually support Biden (as she did in 2020). Indeed, several of these Republicans and conservative media figures have discussed the matter with Trump in recent months, the sources say.
While Swift has not yet announced an endorsement for the 2024 race, The New York Times reported Monday that Swift is a key name on Biden’s staff’s “wish list.” A possible appearance by Swift at Super Bowl LVIII alongside her boyfriend, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, has already sent culture war opponents on the MAGA right into a conspiracy-fueled frenzy about how this NFL season was rigged to favor Biden support.
Behind the scenes, Trump has responded to the possibility that Biden and Swift might gang up on him this year not with alarm but with an immediate display of his ego. In recent weeks, the former president has told those close to him that no amount of celebrity supporters will save Biden. Trump has also privately claimed that he is “more popular” than Swift and that he has more dedicated fans than her, a person close to Trump and another source familiar with the matter told ROLLING STONE
Last month, the source close to Trump continued, the ex-president told some confidants that it “obviously” made no sense that he was not named Time magazine’s 2023 Person of the Year – an award , which went to none other than Swift in December.
“Joe Biden may be counting on Taylor Swift to save him, but voters are looking at these sky-high inflation rates and saying, ‘We’ll never get back together,'” Jason Miller, the Trump campaign’s senior adviser, said in a statement ROLLING STONE.
The former president has already publicly mocked Swift for supporting two Tennessee Democrats running in the 2018 midterm elections. “I like Taylor’s music about 25 percent less now,” Trump said after the pop singer’s statement.
Swift had also criticized Trump during the 2020 election, accusing him of trying to “blatantly cheat and endanger the lives of millions of Americans” after the Trump administration tried to prevent mail-in voting amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
As Trump wages a popularity contest with Swift in his own head, others close to him — including GOP operatives, some of his 2024 associates and Trumpian media figures — have considered various options for going after Swift. Since late last year, these Trump allies have been discussing how to turn the culture warrior dial to 11 if they support Biden again this year, the sources say.
“That would be even more fuel for the culture war,” said an official working on Trump’s re-election effort. “Another left-wing celebrity who is part of the Democratic elite and tells us what to think.”
Publicly, members of Trump’s inner sanctum and social circle are already signaling that Swift is at the top of their enemies list – a situation that has reached a fevered pitch now that Swift’s boyfriend is set to play at the Super Bowl again.
On Monday, Trump’s lawyer Alina Habba shared a post on social media with the caption: “Who thinks this country needs a lot more women like Alina Habba and a lot less like Taylor Swift?” (Habba has defended Trump in the defamation lawsuit against E . Jean Carroll represented in which he was ordered to pay $83 million).
Fox News host Jeanine Pirro — who served as an unofficial political adviser to Trump, including during his presidency — warned Swift to stay out of 2024: “Don’t get involved. Don’t get involved in politics; we don’t want to see you there,” the Fox host said. “Joe Biden is in a hole with young people, he knows that. And if he believes Taylor can get him out of this hole, then he will.”
Former GOP presidential candidate and current Trump hype man Vivek Ramaswamy claimed on Twitter after the Chiefs’ latest playoff win that unnamed forces were manipulating the Super Bowl to increase the lack of support from the “artificially culturally inflated couple.” to give visibility.
MAGA critics have been upset for months about Swift and her boyfriend, who is already hated for his role as a spokesman for Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine.
During a November angry speech about the GOP’s losses in a series of state elections and abortion-related ballot initiatives, Turning Point USA founder and Trump ally Charlie Kirk warned that Swift would go public in the presidential election “and mobilize her fans.” will, adding that “all the Swifties want is a quick abortion.” Fox News host and Trump pal Jesse Watters declared Swift a potential “Pentagon psyop” and “a front for a hidden political agenda” in a post earlier this month.
Others who are pushing for Trump to get back into the White House say the liberal celebrities can take a chance.
“Because Biden is so weak, they need others to bolster his credibility. That doesn’t matter because his rejection will determine the race. Voters are not stupid,” John McLaughlin, a leading pro-Trump pollster, said in response to ROLLING STONE’s questions about Swift. “Celebrity support for Biden is like donating to Nikki Haley. They are a means of signaling virtuousness. It’s like wearing a medical mask in public after COVID…Celebrities can support Biden, but that doesn’t lower inflation, stop wars, fix the border, or lower crime. Biden’s job popularity is still lousy. So Trump still wins and will win.”
Spokespeople for Swift and Trump did not immediately respond to ROLLING STONE’s requests for comment for this story