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Pop superstar Taylor Swift is no stranger to conspiracy theories. She’s like a magnet for them.
So it comes as little surprise that there is another new one floating around the internet.
What is somewhat surprising is that it was espoused by someone who really should know better.
Earlier this week, Fox News host Jesse Watters floated the idea that Taylor Swift is part of a government psychological operation, or PSYOP.
His “proof” of this was a video shared on X (the bastion of truth-telling) by Jeffrey Clark, one of Donald Trump’s co-defendants in the Georgia racketeering case.
Watters declared that this video showed “the Pentagon psychological operations unit float[ing] turning Taylor Swift into an asset during a NATO meeting.”
Taylor Swift is a Trojan Horse. https://t.co/dx0a9COGNi
— Jeff Clark (@JeffClarkUS) January 9, 2024
Of course, the video was presented without any of the context that would have made it clear that was not the case.
That, however, didn’t stop Jesse Watters from telling his viewers, “Yeah, that’s real. The Pentagon PSYOP unit pitched NATO on turning Taylor Swift into an asset for combating misinformation online.”
Watters’ ludicrous insinuation ended up resulting in a couple of rather notable responses.
One came from Andrea Hailey, the director of Vote.org.
Hi, CEO of https://t.co/ZNJINfoVeQ here. Our partnership with @taylorswift13 is helping all Americans make their voices heard at the ballot box.
Not a psy-op or a Pentagon asset. Just the biggest nonpartisan platform in America helping young people register & cast their vote. https://t.co/dsQ42aDNuf— Andrea Hailey (@AndreaEHailey) January 10, 2024
The other came from, wait for it… the actual Pentagon.
Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh, responding to the conspiracy theory, told Politico in a statement, “as for this conspiracy theory, we are going to shake it off.”
Singh then added, “But that does highlight that we still need Congress to approve our supplemental budget request as Swift-ly as possible so we can be out of the woods with potential fiscal concerns.”
So, wait… does that mean that Taylor Swift isn’t an Illuminati clone of satanic church leader? Or that her presence at a NBA playoff game doesn’t determine which team is going to lose? Or that the Chiefs snuck her out of Travis Kelce’s suite in a popcorn carrier earlier this season?
Actually, that last one is probably true.