Donald Trump’s allies in US politics and conservative media have aimed a conspiracy-fuelled rhetorical offensive at Taylor Swift, taking on the world’s most renowned pop star amid fears that she could sway the 2024 election in favour of Joe Biden.
The attacks on Swift from the right have escalated sharply in recent days, making one of America’s most successful cultural symbols a target on the front lines of the country’s bitter political culture wars.
One apparent trigger of the vitriol from Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement was Swift’s decision on Sunday to cheer, hug and kiss her boyfriend Travis Kelce on the field in Baltimore after his American football team, the Kansas City Chiefs, clinched a spot in this season’s Super Bowl.