Why is this Super Bowl seemingly all about Taylor Swift?

The 2024 Taylor Swift Bowl is just hours from kickoff. Or at least, that is the way that it feels. Since the singer started dating Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, the media has exploded into an orgy of either adoration or disgust.

But why? Where did this come from? I mean, she is just a singer, right? You either like her songs or you don’t. And it isn’t like she is the first, or even the biggest, celebrity to date a football player.

The roots of this obsession with Taylor Swift are political in nature, with post-Trump America seeing spies around every corner. Held up as a feminist icon by her supporters, Swift is derided as a Democratic plant by many on the right.

Now political heavyweights like Bill Maher and Chris Christie have weighed in on the subject, offering a view on the subject from both sides of the political spectrum.

Christie offered criticism to his own GOP followers in saying, “Taylor Swift is one of the great American success stories. We should be celebrating her, not having all these crazy conspiracy theories. But this is the kind of thing that Donald Trump brings about.”

It is worth noting that while Swift has not publicly said which way she will be voting in this year’s elections, she endorsed Biden in the 2020 race for the White House. Former Governor Christie laid the blame for the uptick in Swift-bashing conspiracies on the doorstep of former President Trump and his followers.

When asked about the theories that Swift is a plant by the Democratic party to sway public support toward Biden on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Christie called them “outrageous” and “ridiculous.”

But words by liberal-leaning commentator Bill Maher have stoked the fire even more. When speaking to Bob Costas and Caitlin Flanagan, Maher said, “This is a person who could literally swing the election. I don’t know what that says about this country, but I would just say to the MAGA people, ‘You should be very careful attacking her because this is someone who transcends parties.’”

Noting, as did Christie, the country roots of Swift and the broad appeal of her all-American success story, Maher added, “Trump’s people, they’re already registered and voting for him. Her voters perhaps are not registered at all, and she doesn’t have to say who she’s voting for. All she has to say is get registered. They know who she’s voting for.”