Taylor Swift is receiving unlikely praise from conservatives who are applauding the pop sensation for having a "steady masculine boyfriend" in Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.
Conservative author Justin Hart hit back at Swift's Republican critics on Tuesday, saying that as a father of nine, he found the 34-year-old singer "the least objectionable, least sexualized, least rainbow-pushing female pop star of my parental life."
"She has a steady masculine boyfriend who courted her. She rearranges her schedule to be there for him, an engagement is likely in the cards and hopefully marriage and kids after that. (Frankly - our abysmal US birthrate could use a good role model like TS + TK!)," Hart said in a post on X, formerly Twitter. "Therefore, it is unbelievably stupid for MAGA & Trump to pick a fight with her."
Conservative voices defending Swift have emerged amid a backdrop of Republican-fueled conspiracy theories about her.
Swift, who endorsed President Joe Biden in the 2020 election, has been attacked by GOP voices calling on her to "stay out of politics." Although she has yet to endorse anyone in the 2024 race, Swift's endorsement power has loomed large over former President Donald Trump and his campaign. Trump has reportedly been complaining to his inner circle that he's "more popular" than Swift.
Several conservative social media users agreed with Hart, with one saying Swift is "one of the best there is of her kind, so it's a really dumb hatred," while other dads chimed in to say they had a similar view of the Swift drama. Even Christina Pushaw, an aide to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, responded to Hart's comments, writing, "agreed," and adding that while she may disagree with Swift, "everyone has the right to their own political opinions."
"Taylor Swift has never looked happier cheering from the sidelines, playing a supporting role to a man who actually looks like a man, who she's planning to marry," Daily Wire reporter Megan Basham tweeted. "Whatever her politics, if this is a left wing psyop, it's a very ill-planned one."
Swift and Kelce began dating in the summer after he attended her Eras Tour and later recounted on his New Heights podcast how he tried to ask her out at the concert. Swift confirmed they started dating shortly after he mentioned her on the show and she has since appeared at several Chiefs games alongside his family.
COULDN'T AGREE MORE:
— Andrea Katherine (@AndreaKatSTL) January 31, 2024
"Taylor Swift on the other hand is the least objectionable, least sexualized, least rainbow-pushing female pop star of my parental life.
She has a steady masculine boyfriend who courted her. She rearranges her schedule to be there for him" - @justin_hart https://t.co/1G6BUJdSMY
Both halves of the power couple are successful in their own right. Kelce, who is considered one of the greatest tight ends of all time, is a two-time Super Bowl winner and nine-time Pro Bowler. Swift, on the other hand, is a 12-time Grammy winner and the most-streamed female artist on Spotify and Apple Music. Last year, her Eras Tour became the first concert series to ever gross more than $1 billion. Her net worth is estimated to be $1.1 billion, while Kelce's stands at roughly $40 million.
On Tuesday, another X user said that while they believed Swift's politics are "guided by a level of naivete," the singer was not "a toxic person." And a third applauded the possibility of a pregnant Swift, arguing that she could help the U.S. birthrate by inspiring her fans to also have children.
"Imagine the birthrate increase when Taylor and her swifties start to procreate. Might change the course of our population decline," they tweeted.
Other conservatives went so far as to argue that once Swift marries and has children with Kelce, the superstar would ultimately "destroy" the feminist agenda and encourage women across the country to also take a more traditional female role.
![Taylor Swift Boyfriend Kelce](https://d.newsweek.com/en/full/2343668/taylor-swift-boyfriend-kelce.jpg?w=1200&f=92ce3bd209fec01323f1eeae050abd9f)
"When Taylor Swift marries Travis Kelce, the whole of culture, will be filled with pictures of our cultures queen of the feminine marrying a powerful, wealthy, masculine, man," Michael Young, who runs the right-wing account @wokal_distance, wrote. "The re-emergence of that archetype will destroy the social milieu that gives feminism its power..."
"When that wedding (and her wedding is going to be immaculate) shows up in pictures and normies compare that to the aesthetic of current thing feminist iconography ... it's over," Young continued. "The pendulum is going to swing back."
Others, however, continued to claim that the conversation about Swift was part of a greater conspiracy theory to get Biden reelected in November.
One X user said the real plan wasn't to get Swift's fans to support Biden, but to get them to turn against Trump, which could then fuel votes against the former president rather than for his Democratic rival.
"The approach seems to be to make Swifties hate MAGA," they wrote. "The Biden camp has been trying for years --- I remember that dystopian red lit speech --- to get people to hate MAGA people. It's worked on many. This seems to be another attempt. It's not getting Swift to endorse Biden, which may happen; it's to get Swifties to hate MAGA."
About the writer
Katherine Fung is a Newsweek reporter based in New York City. Her focus is reporting on U.S. and world politics. ... Read more