Taylor Swift may have been absent from the Democratic National Convention (DNC), but her presence was still felt through her music. On the second night of the convention, her chart-topping hit Shake It Off took centre stage during the roll call vote. 

The event featured a unique musical twist, with DJ Cassidy curating a playlist of 62 songs to represent each state and territory. From Lil Jon’s Turn Down for What for Georgia to Michael Jackson’s Don’t Stop ’til You Get Enough for Indiana, the music selections brought a lively spirit to the proceedings.

Shake It Off was a fitting choice for Rhode Island, given Taylor Swift’s ties to the state. She owns a home in Watch Hill on the island. The home has become a cultural landmark, celebrated in her music and famous for its star-studded Fourth of July parties.

for everyone who still somehow thinks taylor is a republican, she approved shake it off for the dnc pic.twitter.com/36jSZFAMCy

— E M I L Y (@mleshep) August 21, 2024

But that wasn’t the only Taylor Swift reference of the night.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said, “Donald Trump is like an old boyfriend who you broke up with, but he just won’t go away. He spent the last four years trying to get back into a relationship with the American people. Bro, we broke up with you for a reason!” There is no reason for us to “get back together,” he said, quoting Swift’s hit song We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.

“Bro, we broke up with you for a reason!”

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries goes after Donald Trump on the DNC stage and drops a Taylor Swift lyric in the process. pic.twitter.com/FtVgugWKxl

— MSNBC (@MSNBC) August 22, 2024

Colorado Governor and ‘Swiftie’ Jared Polis also referenced the song during his address at the DNC. “As a Redditor, gamer, entrepreneur and Swiftie from the free state of Colorado, I’m excited by Kamala Harris’ vision of protecting and expanding our personal freedom, internet freedom and economic freedom,” he said, adding the Democratic party does not consist of “weirdos who can tell people who can and can’t have kids.”

“We’re never going back like never ever ever ever,” he stated.

Jared Polis at the DNC: “As a Redditor, gamer, entrepreneur and Swiftie from the free state of Colorado, I’m excited by Kamala Harris’ vision of protecting and expanding our personal freedom, internet freedom and economic freedom.” pic.twitter.com/dEL9uHVPNH

— jordan (@JordanUhl) August 21, 2024

This comes as Swift has yet to officially endorse a candidate in the 2024 race, despite polls suggesting her support could significantly boost the chances of both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. 

Earlier, Mississippi delegate Kelly Jacobs handed out thousands of Taylor Swift-themed bracelets at the event. Jacobs also made a statement on the first day of the convention, wearing a body-length sign that read “Storm the ballot box like they stormed the Capitol on Jan 6” and distributing homemade “Swifty Voter” friendship bracelets. 

Kelly Jacobs (political fashionista) has been turning heads at the @DNC – She puts Taylor Swift’s face on her outfits to attract new voters. If you see her at the convention – she’ll hand you a friendship bracelet. She gave out 250 of them yesterday. @WGNNewspic.twitter.com/KzV8IkjO83

— Lourdes Duarte (@LourdesWGN) August 20, 2024

Taylor Swift recently finished the UK leg of her wildly successful The Eras Tour and is heading to Nashville next. 

Washington:

Donald Trump has shared doctored images on social media showing Taylor Swift and her fans supporting his presidential campaign, in an apparent effort to tap into the pop singer’s mega star power in the US election.

Ms Swift has not yet publicly thrown her weight behind any presidential candidate in the November 5 election, but she backed President Joe Biden in 2020 and has previously been critical of Trump.

On Sunday, Trump shared screenshots of posts with manipulated images — including some that an expert said appeared to be AI-generated — suggesting that the pop star and her fans, popularly known as Swifties, support his campaign.

In his Truth Social post, which includes a poster of Swift clad in an Uncle Sam outfit and instructing her fans to vote for Trump, the former president wrote: “I accept!”

That poster is either “AI generated or just classically manipulated,” Hany Farid, a digital forensics expert at the University of California, Berkeley, told AFP.

The post also includes photos of women wearing shirts with the slogan “Swifties for Trump,” some of which Farid said had the “tell-tale signs of being AI-generated.”

What makes the mash-up “particularly devious” is that is a combination of real and fake imagery, with at least one photo of a woman wearing such a shirt looking legitimate, Farid said.

There was no immediate comment from Swift about the post by Trump, who separately shared on Truth Social a video of a supporter voicing the dubious claim that “Swifties were rallying for Trump.”

Swift’s soaring popularity and sway over her fans could make her support valuable in the upcoming presidential election.

Both Republicans and Democrats have long wanted to count on her support, but the megastar has been largely reticent about her political leanings.

In a demonstration of her star power, when Swift encouraged her fans to register to vote last fall, directing them to the nonpartisan nonprofit Vote.org, her plea had an immediate impact.

Following her message, the institution said it recorded more than 35,000 new registrations, 23 per cent more than last year and the most since 2020.

Swift’s feelers into politics have been heavily scrutinized, making her a ripe target for political misinformation and right-wing conspiracy theories.

Her reserve led many critics to speculate Swift was a closet Republican, until 2018, when she broke both her silence and the internet by endorsing the Democratic opponent of far-right US Senator Marsha Blackburn in Tennessee.

She has since spoken out in particular for the legal right to an abortion and LGBTQ+ rights.

In recent weeks, intense speculation has swirled on social media that Swift will endorse Democratic nominee Kamala Harris in the November election.

The megastar has not commented publicly, but that has not stopped legions of fans from forming a group called “Swifties for Kamala,” attracting tens of thousands of followers on platforms such as Instagram and X, formerly Twitter.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Washington:

The United States provided intelligence to Austria that helped disrupt an alleged Islamic State plot to attack a Taylor Swift concert, the White House confirmed Friday.

“We work closely with partners all over the world to monitor and disrupt threats,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters

“As part of that work, the United States did share information with Austrian partners to enable the disruption of a threat to Taylor Swift’s concert in Vienna,” he said.

Three alleged Islamic State sympathizers have been arrested on charges of plotting a suicide attack at the megastar’s concert in Vienna.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Berlin:

A 19-year-old has been detained in Austria for allegedly plotting to kill people outside a stadium at a Taylor Swift concert, prompting the cancellation of the pop superstar’s three shows in Vienna this week.

Two other teenagers have been identified as suspects.

Here is what security officials have said about the three.

THE 19-YEAR-OLD

The Austrian national with North Macedonian roots was arrested in the early hours of Wednesday during a police operation at his home in Ternitz, a town near the Hungarian border.

The teen, who had posted a video online confessing to the plot, quit his job on July 25, telling people that he “had big plans”, public security chief Franz Ruf told reporters on Thursday.

The suspect had recently changed his appearance and had been consuming and sharing Islamist propaganda online, security officials said, adding that he had pledged allegiance to Islamic State but also held sympathies for Al Qaeda.

A neighbour told Austrian broadcaster Puls24 that the young man kept himself to himself and that he had grown a “Taliban beard”.

During a search of his home, law enforcement authorities secured various substances and tools used for building bombs, as well as Islamic State propaganda, 21,000 euros ($23,000) in counterfeit money, machetes, knives and blank ammunition.

The Kurier newspaper, citing sources familiar with the situation, reported that the suspect had stolen the chemicals from his former workplace, a metal processing company also in Ternitz. Officials did not comment on where he got the chemicals from, adding that this was a focus of their investigation.

THE 17-YEAR-OLD

After initially being tipped off to a single suspect, Austrian investigators came across the other two, including a 17-year-old Austrian national with Turkish-Croatian roots who was arrested in Vienna on Wednesday afternoon.

He had been acting conspicuously in the area of the Ernst Happel Stadium, where Swift’s stadium shows had been due to take place on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

The 17-year-old had been given a job with a company a few days ago that was providing services at the stadium.

The boy, who also appears to have been radicalised and was already known to authorities, had recently broken up with his girlfriend, Ruf said.

He is still to make a statement to police so his exact role in the plot is unclear, but he had extensive contact with the main suspect, officials said.

THE 15-YEAR-OLD

The third and final suspect is an Austrian national with Turkish heritage.

During questioning, the youngster said the main suspect had changed considerably in recent months and had also regularly enquired about devices to ignite explosives, officials said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Taylor Swift’s bodyguard who protected her during the summer leg of her Eras Tour has returned to his homeland Israel to fight for his country against Hamas operatives. According to The Independent, the bodyguard, whose identity hasn’t been revealed, decided to fly back home and join the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) reserves after he saw the deadly attacks on Israeli citizens by Hamas. He left the United States after the first strike took place on October 7. 

The news first broke as Israeli journalist Eran Swisa spotted the security guard fighting in the IDF. Variety magazine later confirmed that the guard has indeed travelled to Israel in order to join the IDF reserves. Mr Swisa told the outlet that the man was born in a Kibbutz in Israel before he moved to America for work. 

“I got a pretty great life back in the US,” Ms Swift’s former security guard told Mr Swisa in a statement he shared with Variety. “I got an amazing dream job that I love, great friends that I call family and a very comfortable home. I didn’t HAVE to come here… But I could not stand on the sidelines while families are being slaughtered and burned alive in their homes!!! Just for being Jewish or for being Israelis,” the bodyguard added. 

Also Read | US Man Used Phone, Apple Watch To Locate Daughter Who Was Killed By Hamas

He also condemned Hamas operatives in his statement and urged others to stand with Israel. “While one side is protecting babies, kids and the elderly, the other side is using those as human shields!!! It’ll be an insult to animals worldwide to call them ‘animals’ but those are not human beings,” he said of Hamas.

“They killed and slaughtered families in their beds alongside family’s [sic] pets!!!! And then they burned the houses down!!!! Try to imagine that happening in your own neighborhood, to your next door neighbours or to a family you know,” the security guard added. 

Israel was caught off-guard by Hamas last weekend as the group attacked its civilians. In response, Israel also launched airstrikes on the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and even stopped food and electricity supply to the region. 

On Tuesday, the Israeli military said that around 500,000 Israelis have been evacuated and displaced in the 10 days since Hamas unleashed the bloodiest attack in the country’s history. Israel’s airstrikes, on the other hand, have claimed at least 2,750 lives in Gaza.