The poll came after Fox News shared a segment suggesting that she may be a “psyop” for the government
A new poll has revealed that nearly one-fifth of Americans believe that Taylor Swift is part of a covert operation for the Pentagon.
The figures come following a poll that was carried out across the US between February 8 and February 12. Speaking with over 900 US citizens, the results show that nearly one in five believe that the pop star is secretly working with the government.
Taylor Swift performs onstage for the opening night of “Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour” at State Farm Stadium on March 17, 2023 in Swift City, ERAzona. CREDIT: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images
The speculation about Swift’s involvement with the US government came into prominence last month, when Fox News broadcast a segment claiming that the singer was part of a covert operation with the Pentagon, and secretly working as a “psyop”.
In the conspiracy theory, shared on Jesse Watters Primetime, the anchor questioned if viewers had “ever wondered why or how she blew up like this?” Before adding: “Well around four years ago, the Pentagon’s psychological operations unit floated turning Taylor Swift into an asset during a NATO meeting. What kind of asset? A psyop for combating online misinformation.”
He went on to play a clip from 2019, which he described as a Pentagon employee pitching NATO on Swift as a potential asset, although this was quickly debunked.
Taylor Swift performs at the Taylor Swift “The Eras Tour” held at Allegiant Stadium on March 24, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Christopher Polk/Penske Media via Getty Images)
Following the report, the Pentagon denied rumours that Taylor Swift was a political “asset”, and a spokesperson said that, when it came to the theory, they were “going to shake it off” – a reference to her hit ‘1989’ song.
In the study, which was completed by Monmouth University, the findings also showed that just less than half (46 per cent) of the participants had heard of the “psyop” theory, and 18 per cent said that they believed the conspiracy to be true.
Of those who were on board with the theory, 71 per cent “identify with or lean toward” the Republican Party, and 83 per cent are “likely” to support Donald Trump in the upcoming election. Further, 73 per cent of those who bought the conspiracy theory about the singer also said that they believed the 2020 education was “fraudulent”.
Just two days ago (February 13), an old political tweet shared by Swift was brought back into the spotlight, thanks to Star Wars legend Mark Hamill.
In the post, originally posted in May 2022, the pop star called out then-President Donald Trump after he labelled those protesting the death of George Floyd as “thugs”.
Re-sharing it nearly two years on, Hamill posted the tweet to his own page, and old his 5.1million followers on the platform: “This tweet has aged remarkably well. Especially the ‘We will vote you out in November’ part.”
The singer was also put in the centre of the political sector once again earlier this week, when Trump claimed that he made Taylor Swift “so much money” in her career, and argued that she would be “disloyal” to him if she were to endorse Joe Biden in the next election.
The comments were made by the former POTUS on social media, and follow reports that Biden – the current President – is seeking endorsement from the pop star to swing the next election.
