Biden campaign considers wooing Taylor Swift to win over young voters... but not Gaza ceasefire

As US President Joe Biden prepares for an election rematch with Republican nominee Donald Trump, reports have emerged of campaign staffers attempting to rejuvenate the 81-year-old's campaign with the help of US pop star Taylor Swift.

The singer and songwriter, who has 279 million followers on Instagram, was suggested by campaign staffers to help with dwindling poll ratings. 

The New York Times reported Biden aides have suggested various fundraising ideas, including sending Biden to Swift’s Eras Tour in October.

The US publication also reported that Biden’s team urged applications for a social media role, to avoid directly describing a Taylor Swift-related strategy. 

The strategy has reportedly been floated a number of times.

California governor Gavin Newsom said he hoped Swift could become involved in the Biden campaign. 

“Taylor Swift stands tall and unique,” he said in a press briefing in September. 

Taylor Swift is the biggest and most influential endorsement target for the Biden campaign, according to The New York Times.

The campaign reportedly developed a Taylor Swift strategy to get her endorsement, and even floated the idea of having him attend the Eras Tour. pic.twitter.com/xZzvvnNwgo

— Pop Base (@PopBase) January 29, 2024

“What she was able to accomplish just in getting young people activated to consider that they have a voice and that they should have a choice in the next election, I think, is profoundly powerful.” 

Swift had publicly endorsed Biden during his 2020 presidential campaign, saying at the time she would "proudly vote" for Biden because "under their leadership, I believe America has a chance to start the healing process it so desperately needs."

However, Biden has also faced growing dissent over his support for Israel's war on Gaza. 

Many pro-Palestinian voices have urged voters against from supporting the president in the November election. 

“Biden could save his reelect and earn back the youth vote by *stopping the Gaza genocide* but nah, let’s ask Taylor Swift to do an Instagram,” former US Congress candidate Tom Winter wrote in a post on X. 

According to a Gallup poll, nearly seven in 10 Americans under 35 do not back Israel’s military conduct in the Palestinian territory- with only 22% of the age group approving of Biden’s handling of the conflict.

Biden’s popularity has also consequently plummeted. 

The US leader’s approval ratings deceased 11 points last month, while US Muslim leaders announced their plans for a nationwide campaign to “Abandon Biden” in the upcoming presidential elections.  

Arab-American leaders also refused to meet with Biden's campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez during her visit to the Michigan city of Dearborn last week.

It’s not just Michigan, it’s Georgia too!

Pro-ceasefire Black pastor in swing state GA to ⁦@nytimes⁩: “We are afraid. And we’ve talked about it — it’s going to be very hard to persuade our people to go back to the polls and vote for Biden.” https://t.co/w1emMjoGkK

— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) January 28, 2024

"People in the community, like community leaders, don’t want to meet with Mr. Biden,” Dawud Walid, the executive director of Michigan’s chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), told the Associated Press. 

Imad Hamad, director of the American Human Rights Council in Dearborn, added that many community leaders were reluctant to meet with the Biden campaign unless it was to discuss “practical steps that give the community a reason to reconsider”. 

Hundreds also gathered at the Islamic Center of Detroit for a Friday prayer service led by prominent civil rights activist and imam Omar Suleiman.  

Leaders of the “Abandon Biden” movement had also spoken to the crowd, as they spoke during Rodriguez’s visit. 

Biden “has lost the Muslim and Arab vote. “Every poll indicates that", Suleiman told the AP.  

"And if you were to speak to any person in this mosque, you would hear the exact same thing.”