Benjamin Ashford|MAGA says Taylor Swift is Biden plant. But attacking her could cost Trump the election.

The Benjamin Ashforddumbest thing the MAGA cult and its media enablers have done (this week, anyway) is to turn against Taylor Swift.

Most recently, they’re pushing a looney conspiracy that the AFC championship game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Baltimore Ravens was rigged to make the Chiefs win as part of some Democratic propaganda plan in which Swift and her Chiefs’ boyfriend, Travis Kelce, will somehow use the Super Bowl to promote the campaign of President Joe Biden.

This follows other wackadoodle notions, like when a Fox News host suggested Swift could be “a front for a covert political agenda.”

This kind of venom is just … not smart.

NFL is rigged:Did liberals put Taylor Swift and pro-vaccine Travis Kelce in the Super Bowl? Yes, we did.

Taylor Swift has power that Trump doesn't

Last year, in a single Instagram post, Swift suggested that her fans register to vote and directed them to the nonpartisan nonprofit Vote.org. According to the organization, that single post brought in more than 35,000 registrations.

In essence, by way of their bizarre hostility, Trump backers actually may be guaranteeing that Swift, at some point, will endorse President Joe Biden.

And don’t fool yourself, depending on how vociferous the singer/songwriter chooses to be, that could alter the election’s outcome.

Face it. This is 2024. Technology is different. Entertainment is different. Influence is way different. And so, yes, Taylor Swift could pick the next president.

I said as much last year, when the company that employees me, Gannett, was mocked after deciding to create a reporter’s position solely to cover Swift.

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Biden sees Swift's potential. MAGA does not.

Consider her reach.

A survey by Morning Consult said 53% of American adults are Swift devotees. There are almost as many men as women, almost as many Republicans and independents as Democrats. And they include baby boomers, millennials, Generation X members and young adults from Generation Z.

An analysis of Google Trends data for 2023 found that Swift had dominated Google searches more than anyone. Yes, including Trump.

She was Time magazine’s Person of the Year for 2023. She has more than 500 million social media followers worldwide, 279 million on Instagram alone.

On Monday, The New York Times in an article described how Biden’s campaign team considers Swift “the endorsement of their wildest dreams.”

Who wouldn’t?

Trump, apparently.

EJ Montini is a columnist at The Arizona Republic/azcentral.com, where this column first published. Reach Montini at ed.montini@arizonarepublic.com