On those right-wing Taylor Swift theories

Dear Meteor readers,

This Sunday is the Super Bowl. There is a chance you don’t care—and I didn’t either, ‘til recently. Like Taylor Swift, I started dating a sports fanatic last year, and I now sort of know what a touchdown is. But you don’t subscribe to this newsletter to hear about that.

Shannon, the resident sports fanatic, is out today, so you have me in her stead unpacking the manosphere’s weird infatuation with Taylor Swift and her boyfriend, Travis Kelce. Plus, two new abortion cases in the Supreme Court, Nikki Haley’s embarrassing primary loss, and so much more.

It shoulda been the Bills,

Samhita Mukhopadhyay

WHAT’S GOING ON

The right-wing obsession with Taylor Swift: You’d think that a couple who reads from afar as the ideal heteronormative American romance (country-singer-turned-pop-icon falls for salt-of-the-earth football star) would be the stuff of GOP dreams. But you would be wrong. In the days leading up to the Super Bowl, right-wing pundits have been foaming at the mouth with conspiracy theories about Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce and declaring a “holy war” on the singer.

ICYMI, the theories go as follows: The Chiefs, some commentators charge, won their spot at the Super Bowl after the NFL changed its rules to benefit from the popularity of the Travis/Taylor relationship, which also means (stay with us here) that the outcome of Sunday’s game is likely rigged. Other conservative talking heads argue that the relationship is a publicity stunt to support Democratic party values—and that after the Chiefs ostensibly win, Swift is going to endorse President Biden at the Super Bowl and swing the election.

What now?

We know the right loves a conspiracy theory, from Obama’s birth certificate to pizzagate. And Swift is an easy figure to build such a narrative around. Her fans are dedicated and focused; her influence over them is literally majestic. (Remember Ticketmaster?) Plus, she’s an artist who’s publicly fought to own her work, and if there’s anything that pisses off the right, it’s a woman living on her own terms.

PICTURED: A WOMAN LIVING ON HER OWN TERMS

But this new, frothing anger at Swift is actually a sharp 180. Just a few years ago, Swift was heralded by white supremacists as, to quote one alt-right blogger, an “Aryan Goddess.” It wasn’t just her looks: Their thinking was that by not endorsing anyone in the 2016 election, she was signaling that she secretly supported Trump and was just biding her time before coming forward with some red-hot conservative messaging. They even misread her lyrics: Interviewing white supremacists, Vice’s former women-focused channel Broadly found that they “claim Swift’s songs ‘red-pilled’ America into believing a conservative, racist agenda.”

Swift was routinely criticized for not condemning this part of her fan base—but she finally did. During the 2018 midterm election, she endorsed Democrats Phil Bredesen and Jim Cooper over sitting Sen. Marsha Blackburn because of Blackburn’s “appalling policies” in Swift’s home state of Tennessee. (Some of that decision-making was captured in the film “Miss Americana.”) Later, in an interview with Rolling Stone, she killed any rumor she was comfortable with these politics, saying, “There’s literally nothing worse than white supremacy. It’s repulsive.” Then, in 2020, she endorsed Biden and Harris and released “Only the Young,” which she’d written after the Democratic losses of the 2018 midterms. And she’s been politically active ever since. Last fall, she urged her huge Instagram following to register to vote, and an estimated 35,000 people did.

And that’s why they hate her: White women are historically reliable in supporting and upholding white misogyny; percentage-wise, white women voted for Trump over Hillary Clinton and again for Trump over President Biden. But Swift is breaking the script in the conservative political imagination. She’s crushed their red pill dreams, and they feel betrayed. Sad!

A tale of two cases: Today, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case that will determine whether Trump can appear on the ballot in Colorado come November. It’s a big one. But there are two other cases on our radar, and they both have to do with abortion:

• The abortion pill case. On March 26, SCOTUS will hear oral arguments in Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. Food and Drug Administration. Filed by anti-abortion groups in Texas, the lawsuit aims to revoke a 24-year-old FDA approval of a drug that has been proven safe. If the court agrees, the decision could restrict access to mifepristone even in states where abortion is legal. Follow here, and remember: Hippocrates, the dude this right-wing group named themselves for, dispensed abortion recipes. History, people!

• The ER case. Next up—with oral arguments starting in April—is United States of America v. State of Idaho, which revolves around EMTALA, or the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, a federal law requiring hospital emergency rooms to provide crucial care irrelevant of a patient’s citizenship status, legal status, or ability to pay. The Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit challenging Idaho’s draconian abortion ban, saying that the ban keeps emergency physicians from providing abortion care when needed. Both cases are expected to move fast—with decisions expected in June.

AND:

• Yesterday, President Biden put his foot in his mouth (as happens) about abortion. At a fundraiser in New York City, he said, “I’m a practicing Catholic. I don’t want abortion on demand, but I thought Roe v. Wade was right.” What’s funny about this is, first of all, abortion on demand is great! (How else would you get one?) Second, abortion is popular with voters; in fact, some conservative politicians are walking back their statements on restricting access. As Kylie Cheung wrote at Jezebel, “Biden simply can’t have it both ways: He can’t run for the presidency with abortion as his centerpiece—a strategy that inherently recognizes that abortion is popular and many voters are “big on abortion”—while also using every opportunity he gets to further stigmatize it.” Amen.

• If you were inspired by Annie Lennox calling for a ceasefire at the Grammys last Sunday during her beautiful tribute to the artists who have passed, you can learn more about artists calling for a ceasefire here.

• The Republican primary season continued with Nevada this past Tuesday. Nikki Haley ran against no one and still managed to lose. Yikes.

• A “Love is Blind” newsletter? Yes, please.

• We love women supporting women, especially in sports.

WEEKEND READS 📚

On images: A photographer gives us a look into an abortion safe haven. (The New Yorker)

On history: Black churches have taken up the mantle of teaching Black history. (NBC News)

On media: A new generation of women leading fashion magazines who bring much-needed diversity to the fashion industry. (Washington Post)

On tech: An excerpt from Kara Swisher’s book, Burn Book, on how the digital revolution shattered traditional media. (New York Magazine)

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