Question

Taylor Swift is part of a secret government effort to help Joe Biden win the presidential election

Answer 1

This Vanity Fair article mentions a poll done by Monmouth University, stating that 18% of Americans believe  “a covert government effort for Taylor Swift to help Joe Biden win the presidential election actually exists.” 

So, I found the original poll done by the university here: https://www.monmouth.edu/polling-institute/reports/monmouthpoll_us_021424/

It is true that their study found 18% of participants to believe in the existence of a covert government effort for Taylor Swift to help Joe Biden win the presidential election. This is the official university website, so one can assume it’s reliable. There are many other articles that talk about the conspiracy and mention the Monmouth study, but no actual articles containing tangible evidence of the conspiracy itself. 

So, the claim that “Taylor Swift is part of a secret government effort to help Joe Biden win the presidential election” has no evidence. However, there is evidence that some Americans believe said claim. So, I would label the conspiracy and headline as misinformation. 

Comments

If it's labeled as conspiracy/misinformation, wouldn't the claim be rated "false" rather than "exaggerated/misleading"?

Answer 2

The statistic is accurate and comes from Monmouth University website means we can trust it. However, no articles provide concrete evidence supporting the existence of a government effort so its not based on any actual evidence.

Answer 3

This claim is extremely misleading and false. The source I presume they got the idea for this claim from is Vanity Fair’s article, “Nearly 20% of Americans Think Taylor Swift Is Part of “a Covert Government Effort” to Reelect Joe Biden” https://www.vanityfair.com/news/nearly-20-of-americans-think-taylor-swift-is-part-of-a-covert-government-effort-to-reelect-joe-biden. However, Vanity Fair's title of their article highlights that Americans “think” this is true and says nothing about it being fact. While many Americans might think this is true, that doesn't make it an accurate claim. Monmouth University released a survey asking Americans if they thought Taylor Swift was on a secret mission to elect Joe Biden and 18% or 1 in 5 Americans believed this true. However, 73% of the 18% that stated Taylor Swift is part of a covert government effort also believed that the 2020 election was stolen. Because Monmouth University created this survey the stats are credible but there is no evidence saying that the conspiracy theory itself is accurate. Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth Polling Institute states that the people who believe this theory are Trump supporters. When completing this poll even the Trump supporters, “‘who hadn’t heard about it before we polled them accept the idea as credible” (https://www.monmouth.edu/polling-institute/reports/monmouthpoll_us_021424/).Marina Pitofsky from USA Today writes, “Swift in 2020 endorsed Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris and she has often encouraged her fans to make their own voices heard” (https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/02/14/taylor-swift-joe-biden-plot/72598599007/). While Taylor Swift has always been vocal about her disdain for Trump, there is no proof that she is working with the government. Just because a concerning 18% of Americans think this is true does not make it so.