Reince Priebus Calls Taylor Swift Conspiracy Theories ‘a Powder Keg of Stupidity’ | Video
Super Bowl LVIII will be upon us on Sunday, and with it has come a whole lot of conspiracy theories about Taylor Swift — cultural icon, singer/songwriter and girlfriend of Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. Many of those theories have been driven by Republicans, who appear appalled by the pair’s relationship and equally appalled by the NFL’s enthusiasm for that pairing.
As former White House chief of staff Reince Priebus put it on ABC’s “This Week,” the theories touted by the right are “a powder keg of stupidity.”
Host George Stephanopoulos said to Priebus, “I’ve got to bring this to you, because Fox News, at least several of the personalities on Fox News, seems to have become obsessed with the idea of Taylor Swift helping Joe Biden, some even going so far as to say it’s part of a conspiracy — a psychological operations conspiracy, led by the Pentagon.”
Priebus laughed at the idea of it being a “psy op.” “Well, I’m not going to go there. Look, I think the whole thing… I think it’s a powder keg of stupidity. You’ve got one of the most… you’re talking about two of the most popular things in America right now, Taylor Swift and the NFL. And we’ve got a party that wants to, you know, grow the tent,” he began.
“I don’t think attacking those two — Taylor Swift and the NFL — is obviously the way to go. I think we ought to have a few things in America that we can agree on,” he continued, “and those are two things that we can. Even if she does take a political position, she doesn’t like Trump, fine — that’s not going to change, I don’t think, anyone’s votes in November.”
“But what could change people’s votes is if, you know, you start coming up with these kinds of conspiracy theories,” Priebus added.
After Stephanopoulos asked him where the theories come from in the first place, Priebus said, “Look, I see… you know, I think a lot of the things that are out there are clicks, it’s popularity, it’s the race to saying something outrageous to get people to listen to you. And it’s part of politics today.”
“Look, we live in a world where division is profit, unity’s a loser, social media algorithms I think are driving our country further apart. And this is just one more of many things that you can read online or in social media. You have to just move on.”
As for Swift, it’s unlikely she’s concerned about the theories or obsessions espoused by Fox News hosts and elsewhere. On Sunday night, she’ll be at the Grammy Awards, where she is nominated for six awards and stands poised to make history if she wins Album of the Year for the fourth time.
Swift will then fly to Tokyo, Japan, where she will play two concerts before she heads back to the United States just in time to cheer Kelce on in the Super Bowl next week.
Watch the interview from “This Week” in the video above.
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