President Joe Biden went on Late Night with Seth Meyers on Monday and humorously poked fun at the right-wing conspiracy theories linking him to pop star Taylor Swift, who has been targeted by the far-right in recent months because of her efforts to register young voters.
Last month, Fox News personality Jesse Watters was criticized for suggesting Swift could be a covert government operative. During his show Jesse Watters Primetime, Watters presented a clip falsely attributed to a Pentagon official, claiming that Swift was considered by the Pentagon's psychological operations unit as an asset to combat online misinformation.
Before the Super Bowl, conservative conspiracists suggested that the NFL rigged the season for Swift to attend, allegedly orchestrated by Biden and the CIA to boost ratings and promote a political agenda, ultimately culminating with an endorsement of Biden. Swift has been in a relationship with Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce since September 2023 and has been a regular presence at his games.
Meyers brought up these conspiracies during his talk with Biden—and Biden went full "Dark Brandon" with his responses.
You can watch what happened in the video below.
President Joe Biden on the Taylor Swift Conspiracy Theories and Dark Brandon Meme (Extended)youtu.be
Meyers asked Biden if he enjoyed "playing" with his "Dark Brandon" persona, a play on the conservative phrase "Let's go Brandon" that arose after a newscaster mistakenly claimed a crowd at a NASCAR race was chanting "Let's go Brandon" when they were actually chanting "F**k Joe Biden."
Biden donned his trademark sunglasses—seen in many memes that have been co-opted by the President and his supporters—to much laughter and joked, "No, I resent the hell out of it" before Meyers asked him about the conspiracies linking him to Swift.
In response to Meyers' question about whether he and Swift "are in cahoots"—a conspiracy Biden had earlier mocked with his "Just like we drew it up" tweet after the Chiefs won the big game—Biden said:
"Where are you getting this information? It’s classified."
"That’s classified information. But I will tell you, she did endorse me in 2020.”
When Meyers asked if Biden believes the conspiracy theory "might come around again," Biden once again teased:
“I told you, it’s classified.”
The exchange quickly went viral on X, formerly Twitter.
The Biden administration's official campaign account also brought attention to the fact that Fox News ran a segment criticizing his appearance on Meyers' show.
People loved the President's cheeky response.
The conspiracies surrounding Swift gained further attention earlier this month after former President Donald Trump claimed he made her "so much money" by signing the Music Modernization Act in 2018, which updates copyright law "to make statutory licensing more fair for creators and more efficient for digital music providers," according to the U.S. Copyright Office.
Trump targeted Swift and speculated about her potential endorsement of Biden in the upcoming presidential election. In characteristically self-promoting fashion, Trump claimed credit for Swift's financial success, citing his involvement in passing the legislation.
Trump argued that Swift should acknowledge his contribution and labeled supporting Biden as "disloyal." He said there is "no way" Swift could endorse Biden "...and be disloyal to the man who made her so much money."
Swift—much to the chagrin of Trump and conservatives—has used her massive profile to encourage young voters to participate in the electoral process, efforts that have been recognized by political scientists as having a significant impact on key races. Swifties have acknowledged that a Swift endorsement could potentially sway their votes. She has also been outspoken against Trump and Senator Marsha Blackburn in her home state of Tennessee.
@IrnaEnglish/X
