Author | Nanfengchuang reporter traveled far away
"Can you confirm or deny that there is an ongoing conspiracy between you and Miss Swift?"
"Where did you get this information? This is confidential."
this This conversation was started when the current US President Biden was asked by host Seth Meyers when he was a guest on the MSNBC midnight talk show on February 27. Wearing a pair of sunglasses and a dark blue suit, Biden sat at the host's table and softly answered the host's questions in a mysterious manner.
As Biden and the host chatted half-jokingly and half-seriously on the stage, some people in the American political arena became anxious. A considerable number of Republicans have an unusual obsession with Swift's political stance.
Taylor Swift, the young American idol country singer who is called "Taylor Swift" by Chinese social media, has become a "guest" that is always mentioned by celebrities in the US Republican online and TV media in the election year of 2024. The conspiracy theories surrounding her true identity are also the traffic code of major right-wing media.
On the other hand, Trump is very confident in himself. According to media reports, he privately told people around him that no amount of popular celebrities could save Biden. He also said that he was "more popular" than Taylor Swift.
But Swift’s appeal to young people is extraordinary and still makes all parties fearful. Naturally, the Democratic Party also wants to try its best to win over, or grab some traffic at every turn. There are also reports that the number one person on Biden's assistant's "wish list of potential spokespersons" is Swift. Regardless of whether Swift speaks out or not, if she half-heartedly conforms to the conspiracy theories concocted by the right-wing media, and even adds some seasoning to fan the flames, she can always generate some buzz.
The election campaign is becoming increasingly fierce. In the tug-of-war, conspiracy theories surrounding an entertainment star and top cultural figures are heading towards a carnival. Swift, who has publicly stated her political stance, is now surrounded by conspiracy theories. She may be innocent, but she is not completely innocent.
01
"Character shaped by the deep state"
Open the Fox Television News Network in the United States, which has a conservative stance. Taylor Swift's name can be said to be the traffic password since this year, and has been mentioned repeatedly. On multiple talk shows, some guests whose positions are considered to be extreme right-wing said that Swift may be a persona carefully created by the "deep state" such as the Pentagon and the CIA.
Those who are most "concerned" about Swift are Trump's "die-hard fans", that is, the "maga" (make america great again) who have low education and feel abandoned by mainstream American society and elites. group.
Swift's current boyfriend, Super Bowl star Travis Kelce, was not spared.
In the eyes of magas, the two are not a real lover, but part of a "deep state" plan to control public opinion on the eve of the election. Right-wing comedian Irving Benjamin even teased Kelsey about Swift's age: "Why would a successful man find a middle-aged woman who is always touring out of town - he is probably gay."
" This is part of the Pentagon's psychological manipulation program," Fox host Jesse Watters told the camera in the studio.
Ramaswamy, a candidate who is close to Trump and failed in the Republican primary, posted this tweet at the beginning of the year: "I want to know who will win the Super Bowl next month. I also want to know, this year Will there be a couple who was artificially matched to endorse the presidential election in the fall?"
Before and after this year's Super Bowl, this "control theory" has always been heard. Swift's appearance is part of this "play" to increase the exposure of her boyfriend Kelsey. Some opinion leaders deduced the script like this: The two sides first show affection on and off the court, attract each other's fans, and then express their support for Biden on social media, thereby inducing a large number of young fans to vote for the Democratic Party.
Swift, who has 278 million followers on Instagram, has a strong influence on young Americans under the age of 25.The US "Newsweek" cited data from the polling agency Redfield & Wilton Strategies and pointed out that Swift's influence is huge enough to influence the voting tendency of 18% of voters.
“Biden hopes that Swift will be his vice presidential candidate!”
“Swift’s civil influence is even greater than that of the president!”
“Swift, you’d better not get involved in politics. We don’t welcome you. Do it!"
In the Fox TV studio, a group of Republicans directly shouted out to the 34-year-old pop star.
Swift has been popular for many years, but it has only been in the past two or three years that she has become the "number one enemy of the Republican Party" and the protagonist of various conspiracy theories in the public opinion field, and has undergone some reversals.
02
From ambiguity to rupture
In fact, from 2016 to 2020, pro-Republican media and various opinion leaders mainly praised Swift, and even regarded her as a target that could be fought for.
In the past, Swift's creations have been mainly American country music, and the scenes in the song MVs were mostly white people, telling the love stories of men and women in small towns.
The American news website BuzzFeed once calculated that as of 2014, the romantic leads in all of Swift’s music videos were white men. In some predominantly white areas, Swift's music has quite a market, and she is the "goddess" in the minds of many young "red necks".
Under the social trend of racial equality and gender diversity, conservative Republicans believe that Swift's songs are like a breath of fresh air, so they have always regarded her as "a similar person".
Some white supremacist racists also call Swift the "Aryan goddess". In the American cultural circle where minorities are impacted, she is a rare top white idol. She has blond hair and blue eyes, which fits the traditional "white beauty" image very well. The American white supremacist website Daily Stormer once used “sculpted Aryan silhouette” to describe Swift’s appearance; on Facebook, there was once a group called “Swift’s Fascist European Fans”. These people described Swift as a "noble goddess" who "has Nordic blood" and "will not be played by rich people of color."
Swift has long been silent on political speech from both the left and the right. On a talk show in 2012, Swift declared, "It's my right to vote, but it's not my right to tell people how to vote."
It wasn't until Trump came to power that right-wingers were finally disillusioned with Swift.
In 2018, Swift broke her silence on social media for the first time and publicly supported two Democratic candidates in her home state of Tennessee. Swift believed that "what has happened in my life and the world around me over the past two years has prompted me to break my silence" and declared that Tennessee Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn's "past voting record in the Senate makes me feel terrible."
Two years later, a conversation between Swift and her father in the Netflix documentary "Ms. America" also aroused heated discussions in the political public opinion field. In the dressing room, Swift's father accused his daughter of breaking his political silence in 2018 by buying him a bulletproof car to keep her safe. Team staff sitting nearby also echoed the sentiment, pointing out that Swift's political stance may lead to a large loss of fans.
Swift, who was sitting opposite, retorted, "I should be on the right side of history."As the conversation continued, Swift became increasingly emotional and accused Republican Senator Marscha Blackburn of her policies:
“She voted against the Women’s Income Equality Act, she voted against the Violence Against Women Act, which protects To protect women from domestic violence and stranger stalkers (Swift pointed to herself, emphasizing the word "stalking"), she voted for policies that would allow gay couples, even those who look like A bill to kick gay couples out of restaurants! These are basic human rights! I can’t stand the way she cleverly disguises her policies through commercials and even claims to represent Christians in Tennessee. I live in Tennessee, I’m a Christian, and these are not my values.”
The widespread spread of the video clip is not just because of Taylor Swift, it is more like a “soul dialogue” between two generations of Americans, highlighting the The huge gap between the world: As a post-war "baby boomer" generation, Swift's father's focus is in sharp contrast with the worldview of his daughter who was born in the 1980s. Because the broadcast time was at a critical juncture in the 2020 U.S. election, it also prompted a large number of young American voters to register, which affected the election results at that time to a certain extent.
As another general election approaches, the huge traffic brought by Swift has caused competition between the democratic and Republican camps. A clip of her crying about Republican policies resurfaced online, and it seems that some people intentionally or unintentionally turned it into a weapon against the Republican Party.
Based on this background, it is not surprising that conspiracy theories have found Taylor Swift - especially since American politics has a long tradition of conspiracy theories.
03
American conspiracy theories have a long history
In fact, using conspiracy theories to attack opponents has never been just a "unique secret skill" of the Republican Party. It can even be said to be a long-standing "cultural tradition" in the United States.
Putting it in the context of this election, the Democratic Party’s hype about House Speaker Mike Johnson’s private life is not without the flavor of a conspiracy theory. Before and after the New Year, the "Ukrainian Aid Bill" was delayed for several months. Johnson did not give him a chance to vote, and his stance on Ukraine repeatedly jumped, making some Americans wonder whether some of his leverage fell into the hands of the Russians.
Johnson’s private life has since been under intense attack from the Democratic camp. Some people on social media questioned why Johnson, who has always claimed to "defend Christian values", adopted a 14-year-old black adopted son when he was 25 years old.
Johnson, as a "Christian nationalist", is the representative of the most conservative faction of the Republican Party on social issues. He also claims to defend traditional family values and is popular with Protestant churches across the United States. Democrats have devised several narratives about his family life.
’s mysterious adopted son, except for a photo with Johnson, there is very little other relevant information. In the family photo displayed in Johnson's speaker's office, there is no trace of the black adopted son. Even those on the right wing of the Republican Party have questioned whether the black adopted son Johnson mentioned was a real person.
Another suspicion is that the Democratic Party followed the past idea of "extreme homophobia means being closeted" and hyped up Johnson's "true sexual orientation."
Senior Senator Lindsay Graham was also attacked by the "sexual orientation conspiracy theory". This veteran congressman who once opposed Trump and later became Trump's most active supporter in Congress has had several erratic stances and has always had a poor reputation among both camps. In addition, Graham has been single and unmarried for many years, and was used as a joke by some media, saying that he had "never been close to a female body in his life."
once served in the military and rose up in an environment that values masculinity. The Republican Party he lives in is a conservative party that places great emphasis on clear gender roles. Even if he doesn't have a wife, how can he not even have a girlfriend? Whether Graham is a "closet" and whether Trump has manipulated his personal life, which is why he changed his position, has been a topic of speculation by political opponents for many years.
Congressmen and presidents sitting in the Capitol and even in the Oval Office of the White House are surrounded by various conspiracy theories, and when the lower limits of human character are constantly being refreshed, the American public's trust in politicians and elected institutions is naturally not much higher. go. Conspiracy theories like
are far from a new phenomenon. Since the mid-20th century, conspiracy theories about the US government have been heard in the mass media.
For example, was there any involvement of the "deep state" behind the assassination of John F. Kennedy? Was the U.S. landing on the moon a staged farce? Is the U.S. military hiding the existence of aliens? Were the 911 terrorist attacks intentionally controlled by the "deep state"?
These topics have a common feature: lingering distrust and panic in the hearts of the people, directed at unelected institutions in the huge U.S. government bureaucracy, such as the Pentagon representing the military and the federal investigation that has never been completed. Bureau and the Central Intelligence Agency, among others.
Putting it in the context of the "Taylor Swift" incident, a typical "conspiracy theory" structure becomes obvious: the Pentagon and the military, institutions that do not need to be subject to public opinion testing, try to reversely influence public opinion through a pop star. Under this narrative structure, the bureaucracy and the people are in a certain game relationship.
Audiences who have watched the British drama "Yes, Prime Minister" should be aware that below elected politicians, there is a large number of civil servants who do not have to face "fire" and have lifelong tenure to work for them. From the perspective of "Yes, Prime Minister", these highly paid civil servants are nominally politically neutral and implement the policies of elected politicians, but when certain interests are touched, they will do everything possible to obstruct or delay them. Therefore, the civil servants who keep answering "Yes, Prime Minister" are actually using various overt and covert methods to set a trap for the democratically elected leaders.
Putting it in the context of the United States, various interpretations of public events called "conspiracy theories" are people's doubts, distrust, or panic about non-elected government agencies and even the entire elite group.
Lance DeHaven-Smith, a professor in the School of Social Sciences and Public Policy at Florida State University, is famous for his research on American conspiracy theories. In his book "Conspiracy Theories in America," DeHaven-Smith emphasized that American popular culture has always been filled with conspiracy theories. In fact, since the birth of the United States, secret conspiracy theories have been a by-product of the entire constitutional structure of the United States.
According to Haven-Smith, the Declaration of Independence, the foundation of the United States, has laid the foundation for what can be interpreted as a "conspiracy theory": in the Declaration of Independence, there are various accusations of the tyranny of the British king. The statements about abuse of power are actually more or less stated in the manner of concocted conspiracy theories.
The "Founding Fathers" in the early days of the founding of the United States lived under British colonial rule without a written constitution for a long time. They also had a "bottom-up" derogatory attitude towards power itself. They tried to use the written constitution to put "shackles" on those who hold power, and also provided a political and ethical basis for the public's distrust of any official narrative in the future.
Under this kind of political ethics, it is not surprising that people outside the power structure always have a skeptical attitude towards official explanations. Moreover, official explanations often fail to completely eradicate public suspicion. For example, why was it that the gunman who was officially identified as acting alone to assassinate John F. Kennedy was so lucky to avoid the police and accurately kill the president sitting in his car? Why were Arab terrorists with no flying experience able to hijack a commercial airliner and fly over half of the United States before crashing into the World Trade Center in New York?
Every era has its own conspiracy theories. Swift, who was innocent but not completely innocent, was just a chapter in the American conspiracy theories of this era.
The pictures in the article are partly from Visual China, and partly from the Internet
-end-
Editing | Arshu
Typesetting | Fengjian Che
Produced by Nanfeng Window New Media
Unauthorized reproduction is prohibited
Follow Nanfeng Window for updates More exciting content
