OAN Host Goes Hard on Travis Kelce, Taylor Swift, Joe Biden Conspiracy

I was speaking to a person who had made their displeasure known about Taylor Swift's presence at Kansas City Chiefs games the other day. Both sides were very earnest and respectful and yet it's as though we were speaking a different language because I was operating under the assumption that the animus stemmed from having her pop up so often on the broadcast. Reasonable minds can disagree over whether that's something worth being annoyed about and move along with their day. But what was so striking is the degree to which this person was distressed about what I believe to be a totally innocuous situation and their inability to explain why with any type of cohesion.

It was sort of a depressing situation. And not in judge-y way. No one needs to like Taylor Swift or Travis Kelce or, hell, even the NFL. It was just so odd to not be able to understand at all what the issue was, because it was made clear it wasn't about the league rigging it so Kansas City would get some calls and make the Super Bowl for ratings. It was much deeper, and darker, than that.

I'm bringing this up because I think it's entirely possible that if you're not knee-deep in news coverage — on either the right side or the left side — you may not fully understand how Swift has become a canvas for some truly remarkable conversation. A few hours ago, I thought I had it handled and the big bad issue to care about was this couple endorsing Joe Biden for president. Which didn't make a ton of sense because we already know that's the way they lean so why would them making it explicit have any impact at all?

Boy, do I feel naive after seeing this segment from OAN. Because it's about so much more.

That's quite a plan. And big, if true. Have to say sports fans take some strays for liking sports — which I swear was just a good American thing not so long ago. It all moves so quickly now.

And again, there are so many other outlets you can turn to for a good dunking on this and so many where you can consume the exact same warnings. It's just shocking to me that, if you live somewhere with a wide array of political opinions, you may find yourself sitting next to someone who believes this at a Super Bowl party. Or hell, maybe they won't be there because they are boycotting.

It's all reversed.

Back in 2017, I floated the idea that Resistance-minded types might skip the Super Bowl en masse to make a statement with abominable ratings. It was admittedly not the best or smartest blog post these fingers have typed. So much so that when Jason Whitlock told me how wrong I was a few days later, I kind of had to agree with him.

Point is, things are both escalating at an exponential pace and getting stupider and more trivial. We still have 12 days before the Super Bowl and then a few days after that to break it all down. Oh yeah, and then the election in three-quarters of a year.

Have fun out there, everyone. Enjoy the game or don't. Hope the conversations aren't too weird.