“‘I signed and was responsible for the Music Modernization Act for Taylor Swift and all other musical artists. Joe Biden didn’t do anything for Taylor, and never will. There’s no way she could endorse crooked Joe Biden, the worst and most corrupt president in the history of our country, and be disloyal to the man who made her so much money.’”
That’s former President Donald Trump, who, hours before Super Bowl LVIII, was focused on the romantic partner of one of the star players.
Trump took to Truth Social, his preferred social-media platform, on Sunday afternoon, writing, “There’s no way she could endorse Crooked Joe Biden,” instead of “be[ing] loyal” to Trump, who, in his own stated view, was “the man who made her so much money.”
For what it’s worth, Swift had made quite a bit of money before Trump entered the White House. In 2016, the year before Trump’s inauguration, she was named one of Forbes’ highest-paid celebrities. The outlet said that she raked in $170 million in that year alone. She’s now worth multiples of that number.
Don’t miss (from December 2023): Taylor Swift is Time’s person of the year. Here’s why she’s also been a big financial story in 2023.
The Music Modernization Act, a bipartisan effort, passed both houses unanimously in 2017 before being signed into law by Trump.
Swift has also been at the center of conspiracy theories stirred up by various conservative commentators, including former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. In short, the theory goes that various entities had been colluding with the National Football League to ensure the Kansas City Chiefs — the team for which Swift’s boyfriend, Travis Kelce, plays tight end — would win, setting up a platform for Swift to endorse President Joe Biden for re-election, perhaps on the field in Las Vegas.
That theory was swatted down by two Republicans on Sunday.
“Taylor Swift is one of the great American success stories,” former candidate Chris Christie said on “Meet the Press” Sunday. “We should be celebrating her, not having all these crazy conspiracy theories. But this is the kind of thing that Donald Trump brings about.”
Marco Rubio, a Republican senator from Florida, said he hoped “we can get rid of these conspiracy theories about Taylor Swift” in his explanation of why he was rooting for a San Francisco 49ers victory.
Kansas City won the Super Bowl in overtime.
From the archives (from October 2018): Flanked by musicians, Trump signs music copyright bill into law
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