For fans worried that their choice of Super Bowl team constitutes an implicit endorsement of President Biden or former President Donald Trump, here’s the good news: It’s more complicated than that.
Super Bowl LVIII became entwined with the presidential election after speculation erupted on social media that pop star Taylor Swift, who’s dating Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, will use the platform to endorse Mr. Biden, giving his candidacy a boost among the singer’s legion of fans.
The idea that Ms. Swift may support the Democrat president’s reelection bid isn’t farfetched, given that she backed him in 2020. Her boyfriend is also suspected of having left-of-center tendencies, thanks to his ads for Bud Light and COVID-19 vaccines.
One problem: Any such plot by the NFL to pump up the Biden campaign would presumably need the buy-in of Kansas City Chiefs co-owner and chairman Clark Hunt, which is where the theory breaks down.
Since 2010, Mr. Hunt has donated more than $200,000 to Republican federal candidates and committees. His wife, Tavia Hunt, is also a GOP political donor. Neither gave to a Democratic candidate in a federal election during that time, according to Federal Election Commission records.
A favorite of the Hunt family is Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, judging by the donations, but the list of current Republican senators backed by Mr. Hunt is lengthy.
It includes Sens. Ted Budd and Thom Willis of North Carolina, John Cornyn and Ted Cruz of Texas, Steve Daines of Montana, Joni Ernst of Iowa, Deb Fischer of Nebraska, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Jerry Moran of Kansas, Marco Rubio of Florida, Eric Schmitt of Missouri and Todd Young of Indiana, as well as the National Senatorial Campaign Committee and former GOP senators like Roy Blunt, Cory Gardner, and Rob Portman.
Mr. Hunt has also contributed to House Republicans, including Reps. Jennifer Kiggans of Virginia, Matt Rosendale of Montana, and Thomas Kean of New Jersey, but his focus has been the Senate. He gave $10,800 to Keep the Senate Red in 2016 and $22,400 to the Senate Firewall Committee II in 2020.
In fact, Mr. Hunt’s status as a loyal Republican donor may be enough to push liberal NFL fans to the San Francisco 49ers, whose owner and co-chair Denise DeBartolo York gave $19,000 to exclusively Democratic candidates from 2016-20, according to FiveThirtyEight.
And yet the Niners have a couple of Trump connections. As president in 2020, Mr. Trump signed an executive order pardoning Eddie DeBartolo Jr., the former 49ers owner and Ms. York’s brother, who was convicted in a gambling fraud scandal in 1988.
San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan’s father, former NFL head coach Mike Shanahan, campaigned for Mr. Trump in 2016, calling him “very, very special.”
Kyle Shanahan has steered clear of politics. He was one of many coaches who disagreed with Mr. Trump’s 2017 call to fire players who protested during the national anthem, saying he was “pretty bothered by it” and that “you don’t want a bunch of politics in sports.”
There are reasons for conservative and liberal fans to support either team, a message largely overshadowed by the focus on viral tweets by pro-Trump podcaster Mike Crispi and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
After the Chiefs won the AFC Championship Game, Mr. Crispi declared the contest was “rigged.”
“Calling it now: KC wins, goes to Super Bowl, Swift comes out at the halftime show and ’endorses’ Joe Biden with Kelce at midfield. It’s all been an op since day one,” Mr. Crispi said on X.
Mr. Ramaswamy fanned the flames by saying on X: “I wonder who’s going to win the Super Bowl next month. And I wonder if there’s a major presidential endorsement coming from an artificially culturally propped-up couple this fall.”
His spokesperson told The Wall Street Journal that his post was meant to be “tongue-in-cheek and light-hearted.”
People are acting like Taylor Swift actually holds the key to the presidency…@MegynKelly on the bizarre conspiracy theories about Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce, and Biden and the Dems. Watch the FULL clip - https://t.co/f3z97VCwGC pic.twitter.com/l7dqb7ReyJ
— The Megyn Kelly Show (@MegynKellyShow) January 31, 2024
While Mr. Kelce’s ad for Bud Light rankled conservatives, Mr. Trump may have provided the All-Pro tight end with cover by defending Anheuser-Busch in a Tuesday post on Truth Social, in the aftermath of its partnership with a transgender influencer.
“The Bud Light ad was a mistake of epic proportions, and for that a very big price was paid, but Anheuser-Busch is not a Woke company,” Mr. Trump said. “Anheuser-Busch is a Great American Brand that perhaps deserves a Second Chance? What do you think? Perhaps, instead, we should be going after those companies that are looking to DESTROY AMERICA!”
The Swift-Kelce-Biden conspiracy theory hasn’t stopped Missouri Republicans like Mr. Hawley and Mr. Schmitt, of course, from showing their support for the Chiefs. Missouri Gov. Mike Parson, a Republican, joined his wife in a pro-Chiefs video posted Wednesday.
“This will make the fourth Super Bowl in six years, and we’ve won two of the three, and we’ve got this one we’re going to be doing this weekend,” Mr. Parson said. “I couldn’t be more proud to be part of the Chiefs kingdom and be the governor of the state of Missouri.”
Ms. Swift jumped into politics in 2018 by endorsing Democrat Phil Bredesen over Republican Marsha Blackburn for Senate in Tennessee, saying that her “voting record in Congress appalls and terrifies me.”
If Mr. Hunt has any issue with Ms. Swift’s political leanings, however, he hasn’t shown it. The team owner praised her this week in interviews on radio row in Las Vegas.
“I already had a number of Swifties in my household. I have two daughters who are huge fans of Taylor Swift,” he told Sports Radio 810 WHB in Kansas City. “It’s been so much fun to have her join the Chiefs kingdom. The most important thing I think is that she and Travis obviously have a very special relationship. We couldn’t be more happy for the two of them.”
Chiefs head coach Andy Reid was confronted with the issue when a German reporter asked whether “you guys made it into the Super Bowl to actually secretly help reelect President Biden.” Mr. Reid replied: “That’s way out of my league.”
“She [Swift] has been great. We had a nice visit with President Biden [after winning Super Bowl LVII]. That’s about as far as I can go,” Mr. Reid added at Tuesday’s Media Day in Las Vegas.
Certainly Ms. Swift is one of the most famous people in the world — her ongoing Eras Tour became the first to gross more than $1 billion — but whether she has the star power to swing an election is another question.
Ask Ms. Blackburn. Despite the pop star’s opposition, she won her 2018 Senate race 55%-44%, becoming the first woman to represent Tennessee in the Senate.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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