NEWARK, NEW JERSEY – AUGUST 26: Taylor Swift attends the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards at Prudential Center on August 26, 2019 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images for MTV)
On Sunday, former RNC Chair Reince Priebus said that criticizing Taylor Swift and spreading rumors about her relationship with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce were foolish moves on the part of Republicans.
Priebus responded, “I think it’s a powder keg of stupidity,” to a question concerning the right media’s recent obsession with the notion that Swift would assist President Biden in his reelection campaign, during a panel discussion on ABC News’s “This Week.”
According to Priebus, the insults will simply drive away potential GOP supporters. “You’re talking about two of the most popular things in America right now. Taylor Swift and the NFL. And we’ve got a party that wants to, you know, grow the tent. I don’t think attacking those two – Taylor Swift and the NFL – is obviously the way to go. I think we ought to have a few things in America that we can agree on. And those are two things,” Priebus added.
Priebus’s comments follow a New York Times article claiming that the Biden campaign is aggressively seeking Swift’s support in an effort to win over young voters who may not ordinarily be highly interested in politics.
According to Swift, who was trying to help Biden win, the article ignited a week of conspiracy theories that went viral on social media and on politically right circuits.
According to a Rolling Stone story published last week, Swift is the subject of a “holy war” sworn by the allies of former President Trump, particularly if she backs Biden before November. But Priebus didn’t think a Swift support would have much of an impact until the 2024 presidential contest.
“Even if she does take a political position – she doesn’t like Trump, fine – that’s not going to change, I don’t think, anyone’s votes in November,” Priebus said. “But what could change people’s votes is if, you know, you started coming up with these kinds of conspiracy theories.”
Perhaps the most well-known Republican to target Swift thus far is Vivek Ramaswamy, a former presidential contender who has endorsed Trump.
He has fueled rumors that the NFL is manipulating football games for Swift’s Kansas City beau while Democrats vie for her favor. Priebus, meanwhile, who was Trump’s first chief of staff in the White House, insisted that “people on the internet” were primarily to blame for the Swift backlash rather than Republican voters.
