Taylor Swift may express her support for President Joe Biden during tonight's Super Bowl. Supporters of candidate Donald Trump are nervous, because the artist may have a significant impact on the American elections.
Swift heeft een relatie met Travis Kelce van Kansas City Chiefs, dat zondag in de finale tegen San Francisco 49ers speelt. Rechtse critici, onder wie partijgenoten van Trump, beweren dat die relatie in scène is gezet en dat de NFL de play-offs heeft beïnvloed. Zodat Swift tijdens de Super Bowl een enorm publiek kan aansporen om bij de presidentsverkiezingen van later dit jaar op Biden te stemmen.
De Americanfootball-competitie NFL heeft in de aanloop naar de Super Bowl van zondag afstand genomen van deze complottheorieën.
Roger Goodell kreeg maandag op een persconferentie talloze vragen over de complottheorieën rond Swift. De baas van de NFL drukte alle verhalen de kop in. “Het is niet de moeite waard om hierop in te gaan”, zei hij.
“De gedachte dat dit een vooraf geschreven script is, dat dit gepland is, is complete onzin. Taylor is een geweldige artieste en haar effect op de sport is alleen maar positief. Zij en Travis lijken erg gelukkig. Het is fantastisch dat ze deel uitmaakt van de NFL.”
American football became more popular thanks to Swift
Swift has already attended twelve Kansas City Chiefs games this season. The first matches I attended in particular were crazy. Cameras were often trained on her and commentators manipulated the titles of her music.
Since her relationship with Kelsey, American football has become more popular in the United States. At the end of January, a Kansas City Chiefs game set a viewership record. Then up to 55 million people participated. Good for the sport, but many football fans are upset by the attention the singer gets during matches. This would distract from the sport.
Kelsey, 34, said in November that he had never had a relationship that received as much attention as his relationship with Swift, 34. “I've never had to deal with this before,” he said. “The magnifying glass she's lying under and the photographers are waiting for her every day. And yet, I don't run away from it.” “If she knows how to handle it, I can't make a problem with it.”
Sunday's Super Bowl is also expected to receive more attention thanks to Swift. It will likely break the viewership record set last year, when 115 million Americans tuned in.
Swift's political influence
For a long time you have not heard the American singer talking about politics. In 2018, she spoke out for the first time by supporting a Democratic candidate in the midterm elections. During the 2020 presidential election, she openly supported Biden.
And with her 280 million followers on Instagram, her political support can have serious consequences. An opinion poll showed that 20 percent of her fans say they will vote for the candidate she supports. A social media post from Swift previously led to 35,000 new registered voters.
Fans were concerned about Swift's travel schedule last week. She performed in Tokyo on Saturday night and fans were worried that she wouldn't be back in time for the Super Bowl. It is now known that Swift landed in Los Angeles just in time. It remains to be seen whether she will speak publicly about the presidential election during tonight's Super Bowl.
2:31Conservative Americans attack Taylor Swift: This is what's happening
“Travel specialist. Typical social media scholar. Friend of animals everywhere. Freelance zombie ninja. Twitter buff.”