The Pentagon expertly dismissed a bizarre conspiracy theory that Taylor Swift is a covert psyop asset for the US government, saying it’s ‘going to shake it off’. (Getty)
The Pentagon really said haters gonna hate as it dismissed a weird conspiracy theory that Taylor Swift is a psychological operations (psyop) “asset”.
The utterly bizarre claim, which has floated around right-wing conspiracy theory spaces in the recent past, made it to primetime when Fox News host Jesse Watters suggested that the pop megastar could be a covert agent for the US government.
Watters played a heavily edited clip from a 2019 conference, sponsored by NATO, in which a presenter mentions Swift as an example of an influential person during Tuesday’s (9 January) broadcast of his Fox News show.
He then falsely claimed the video was proof that the “Pentagon psyop unit pitched NATO on turning Taylor Swift into an asset for combating misinformation online”.
But the Pentagon has now responded, brilliantly telling folks to take the ‘Taylor Swift is really a psyop government agent’ scenario off their 2024 bingo card.
“As for this conspiracy theory, we are going to shake it off,” Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh told Politico, referencing Swift’s 2014 mega hit “Shake It Off”.
Singh 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.”
Taylor Swift has been outspoken on political issues in the US in recent years. She’s denounced attacks on the LGBTQ+ community, condemned the rollback of abortion rights as a result of the Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling overturning Roe v Wade and been a longtime advocate for gun control reform.
Swift also endorsed president Joe Biden in the 2020 election, and encouraged her large fanbase to have their voices heard in politics by registering to vote.
All of that, combined with her vast influence, has ruffled feathers with the right-wing and caused theories that Swift is working with the government to influence political agendas for ‘the left’.
However, Andrea Hailey – CEO of Vote.org, a nonprofit that provides online voter guides for folks in the US – slammed the conspiracy theory that Taylor Swift’s voter registration efforts are a psyop effort by the government.
“Our partnership with [Taylor Swift] is helping all Americans make their voices heard at the ballot box,” Hailey wrote on X/Twitter.
“Not a psyop or a Pentagon asset. Just the biggest nonpartisan platform in America helping young people register and cast their vote.”