As you may have noticed, Taylor Swift is everywhere. Filling arenas for the Elas Tour. Her concert film fills theaters. She appears on the TV screen from her luxury suite at a Kansas City Chiefs game to cheer on her boyfriend, Travis Kelce.
And now she's living rent-free inside the Fox News host's head.
Commentators on the network donned culture war helmets after reports that Biden's re-election campaign is seeking support from superstars (who supported President Biden in 2020). “Don't get involved in politics!” Jeanine Pirro urged her. “We don't want to see you there!” Another commentator, Charlie Arnolt, implored, “Don't believe everything Taylor Swift says.” Sean Hannity said on prime time that “she might want to think about it” on the issue.
Mr Fox's anxiety disorder comes after months of baroque conspiracy theories about power couples by MAGA commentators. That the NFL was rigging the Super Bowl for the Chiefs. And it was all ultimately a sinister plot to exaggerate support for Biden. Fox host Jesse Watters also toyed with the speculation, floating the idea that Swift's success may have been a success. psychology Chief of Department of Defense.
In retrospect, “Paul Is Dead'' lacked imagination.
Of course, people have a right to comment on celebrities' political speeches and the possible existence of a secret Diva lab at the Pentagon. But if Fox News hosts truly believe that soliciting celebrities for their opinions on political issues is irresponsible and dangerous, then maybe they should look to Fox News.
For years, Fox has hosted Kiss bassist Gene Simmons to discuss the response to the Ebola outbreak. He has fashion model Fabio claim that liberalism is to blame for California's crimes. It gave cancel culture its Kid Rock. Last year, actor Jim Caviezel declared Donald J. Trump “the new Moses” on “Fox & Friends.”
And let's not forget that Fox helped bring into politics a TV celebrity who is well-known as a likely candidate for Biden to run against.
In March 2011, the station announced a new weekly segment on “Fox & Friends” called “Mondays and Trump.” The host of NBC's “Celebrity Apprentice” has been a frequent guest on the network for years, and each week he laments the Obama administration's policies and why he fired the likes of Gary Busey and LaToya Jackson in that week's episode. was explained to the moderator.
Through his birtherism movement and his tweet that Obama's 2012 victory over Mitt Romney was “a complete sham and a farce,” Trump's attachment to Fox and its viewers only deepened.
Despite Trump's celebrity status, he did not appeal to Fox's audience. He appealed, at least in part, because of his celebrity. They've been hearing liberal speeches at the Oscar ceremony for years. They had been told, especially by Fox, that Hollywood celebrities were disparaging their beliefs. Now, here were real prime-time network celebrities who spoke their language and were on their side.
It's not just that Fox welcomes celebrities who align with its politics. (Its hosts tend to cite Ronald Reagan, who knew his way around on a movie set.) When it comes to celebrating conservative politics and injecting entertainment value, other powers contributed as much as
Fox has cultivated a dazzling sensibility since its inception under Roger Ailes, a talk show producer turned political operative. One Fox executive once described “Fox & Friends” as “an entertainment show that tells the news.” Glenn Beck, a star of the early Obama administration, called his show “a combination of entertainment and enlightenment.”
More broadly, Fox has long embraced a kind of pop-politics culture war that makes Roseanne Barr a martyr and Kathy Griffin the villain, giving viewers the impression that its beers are too liberal. This has led me to wonder if this is the case. He, like right-wing publisher Andrew Breitbart (who adopted the ideas of Marxist philosopher Antonio Gramsci), believed that politics was downstream from culture.
But they've been selective about which celebrities should stay in their lane and which ones should merge. After LeBron James criticized then-President Trump in a 2018 interview, FOX's Laura Ingraham told him to “shut up and dribble.” For some reason, Trump's endorsements by former quarterback Brett Favre and golf champion Jack Nicklaus were uncontroversial.
Meanwhile, much of the criticism of Ms. Swift has taken on a condescending tone, suggesting that the 34-year-old female pop star is gullible, naive, and susceptible to being fooled by political operatives. . “Does Taylor realize that the men they want her to support are some kind of stumbling, clumsy kids?” “Never be shy about sharing your opinion!”), raising concerns that were not expressed during the interview.
Do Fox conservatives really have anything to worry about? There is a good argument that celebrity political endorsements mean little. Academic researchers hypothesize that Oprah's blessing was a plus for Obama's 1 million votes in 2008. Then again in 2018, Ms. Swift supported the Democratic Party in the Tennessee Senate race, but lost by a narrow margin. It is true that since 2020, her fame level has increased from “star” to “molten cosmic supercluster where galaxies are born”. Still, whether her influence will translate into votes remains speculation.
However, another celebrity principle may apply here. It's the Streisand effect. Similar to Barbra Streisand's attempt to cover up photos of her home, Fox's opposition could further increase Swift's support. If we can change the perception of the story to be Republicans vs. Swifties, conservatives scolding the hugely popular millennial women, and Red America vs. “Red (Taylor’s version)” America, it will create a backlash. There's even a possibility.
But celebrity bashing, cultural wars, and fear-mongering of cultural alienation are so ingrained in Fox's sensibilities that the station can't do anything else. Maybe. As Ms. Swift sings, “Look what they made us do.”
