MAGA Questions Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce's Relationship

More than a third of Donald Trump supporters believe that Taylor Swift's romance with Travis Kelce is more of a PR stunt, exclusive polling for Newsweek shows.

Swift went public with her relationship with the Kansas City Chiefs tight end back in September when she stepped out for the first of his NFL team's games. The singer supported her beau at several games, including last month's Super Bowl LVIII win.

While Swift and Kelce's romance has been embraced by fans, the stars have also faced a host of MAGA detractors. Some baselessly claimed that this year's Super Bowl was "rigged" in favor of the Chiefs because of Swift's relationship with Kelce.

MAGA—an acronym for Make America Great Again, the slogan used by Trump during his 2016 presidential campaign—has been used to describe devoted supporters of the former president.

Vivek Ramaswamy, who pulled out of this year's race for the GOP presidential nomination and is now backing Trump, appeared to question the authenticity of Swift and Kelce's relationship as he also suggested rigging.

"I wonder who's going to win the Super Bowl next month," he wrote on X, formerly Twitter, in late January. "And I wonder if there's a major presidential endorsement coming from an artificially culturally propped-up couple this fall. Just some wild speculation over here, let's see how it ages over the next 8 months."

Ramaswamy's post marks a continued trend in conservative criticism of Swift, which appears to stem from her political leanings and influence.

A new poll conducted by Redfield & Wilton Strategies on behalf of Newsweek now appears to prove that this sentiment has bled into the electorate.

American voters were asked which of the following two statements came closest to their views: "Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's relationship is more a PR stunt than genuine," or "Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's relationship is more genuine than a PR stunt."

Twenty-eight percent of respondents said that they believed the relationship to be more of a PR stunt. Of these, 36 percent were Trump voters, compared to 24 percent of those who support President Joe Biden.

Breaking this down into age groups, the bloc most cynical of Swift and Kelce's relationship was Millennials (those born between 1981 and 1996), who led the pack with 36 percent. They were followed by Generation Z (born 1997-2012) on 29 percent, Generation X (1965-1980) with 26 percent, while 20 percent of Boomers (1946-1964) and the Silent Generation (1928-1945) shared that view.

When it came to those who believed Swift and Kelce's relationship to be more genuine than a PR stunt, 40 percent of Biden voters held this sentiment, while just 26 percent of Trump voters agreed.

Leading all groups in this belief was Generation Z, with 46 percent, followed by the Boomer and Silent Generations with 33 percent, and Generation X with 28 percent. Millennials trailed the pack, with 24 percent sharing the same response.

Some 41 percent of those polled responded that they didn't know how they viewed the couple's relationship. This was split evenly among Biden and Trump supporters, with 37 percent from each camp sharing the response.

The poll, which had a sample size of 1,500 eligible voters, was conducted on March 2 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.53 percent.

Newsweek has contacted representatives of Swift and Kelce via email for comment.

Swift's political views have long been a point of speculation, as the "Shake It Off" singer largely remained quiet about politics until 2018, when she endorsed Democratic Senate candidate Phil Bredesen in Tennessee. She has also voiced support for the LGBTQ+ community and abortion rights.

Some people have speculated she may endorse Biden ahead of the November general election, but thus far she has not said who she is supporting for president. She did, however, endorse him in the 2020 presidential election. Solidifying her positions in the past, Swift publicly criticized Trump during his presidency.

Political Force

Swift has proven herself to be quite the political force. On September 19, National Voter Registration Day, the singer took to Instagram to share a message urging her fans to register on the nonpartisan, nonprofit Vote.org. According to the organization, Swift's post was followed by a surge of more than 35,000 registrations—an almost 25 percent increase over the same day the previous year.

Andrea Hailey, the CEO of Vote.org, said in a statement that the single-day surge in registrations was a "highly encouraging sign of voter enthusiasm," particularly as there was a 115 percent spike over 2022 in newly eligible 18-year-olds registering to vote.

Previous polling conducted for Newsweek by Redfield & Wilton Strategies found that 18 percent of voters say they're "more likely" or "significantly more likely" to vote for a candidate endorsed by Swift.

In addition, 17 percent said they would be less likely to vote for a Swift-backed candidate, while 55 percent would be neither more nor less likely to do so. Of all the respondents, 45 percent said they were fans of the singer, and 54 percent said they were not. Only 6 percent said they were not familiar with Swift.

With her political leanings in mind, Swift's influence has sparked a wave of unrelenting attacks from some Trump supporters. Days before Super Bowl LVIII, a faction of Republican voters shared plans to boycott the game simply because of Swift's expected presence.

"Taylor Swift is a force," comedian and Democratic consultant Chip Franklin previously told Newsweek. "Her presence at NFL games has been a $330 million bonanza for both the Chiefs and the NFL."

He added: "Swift's music taps into the angst and pressure young people are experiencing in this social media maelstrom, and combine that with her boyfriend—a handsome football star and pro-vax advocate—and you have an unprecedented whirlwind of cultural and political opinion."

Preliminary polling shows Biden neck-and-neck against presumed opponent Trump ahead of November's election. Prior to Super Tuesday's vote, where both men dominated their respective parties' primary races, Biden was barely leading Trump in two of the last six major national surveys, while the former president led Biden in three of the polls evaluated by FiveThirtyEight.