Steve Bannon issued a warning to Republicans about Taylor Swift’s potential influence on the 2024 presidential election.
Bannon, a staunch conservative who served as an adviser to former President Donald Trump during his time in the White House, is the latest high-profile conservative to voice concerns about Swift’s political power heading into the 2024 election, which will likely pit Trump against President Joe Biden in November, as each candidate appears poised to win their party’s nomination.
While Swift has not made an endorsement, conservatives have worried that she could potentially boost Biden’s campaign by backing him.
During an episode of his War Room show on Monday, Bannon warned that Swift could become a “formidable presence” in the election, pointing to the influence she holds over her massive fanbase, known as the “Swifties.”
“Taylor Swift, with TikTok in the back of it, is a formidable presence. And anybody who doesn’t believe that, I don’t think is looking at that demographic and the power she has with that demographic,” Bannon said.
He also said her tour would “stop” in August and not resume until after the election, claiming she would be “fully available after Labor Day to do whatever.” However, according to her website, that is not the case.
She will be pausing her international dates during that time period, with tour stops in Miami, New Orleans and Indianapolis scheduled throughout October and November.
Swift, for years viewed as apolitical, has ventured into politics more often in recent years, voicing support for issues including women’s and LGBTQ+ rights.
Ahead of Super Tuesday this month, Swift released a message to her fans urging them to make their voices heard in the primary but did not say whom she planned to support.
“I wanted to remind you guys to vote the people who most represent YOU into power. If you haven’t already, make a plan to vote today,” Swift wrote in an Instagram post. “Whether you’re in Tennessee or somewhere else in the US, check your polling places and times at Vote.org.”
She did endorse Biden over Trump in the 2020 presidential election.
During an interview with V Magazine, Swift said that she believed the U.S. needed a president who “recognizes that people of color deserve to feel safe and represented, that women deserve the right to choose what happens to their bodies, and that the LGBTQIA+ community deserves to be acknowledged and included.”
She also endorsed Democrat Phil Bredesen in Tennessee’s 2018 Senate race, though he went on to lose to Republican Marsha Blackburn.
