Since the 34-year old singer began her high-profile relationship with Kansas City Chiefs player Travis Kelce in September last year, conspiracy theories spouted by prominent MAGA figures have circulated online. They started off rather innocently — the misinformation accused the pair of entering a ‘fake’ relationship to boost their public profile (like Taylor needs that?).

Earlier this week, the accusations turned insidious and political, with a handful of influential right-wing personalities calling Swift an “election interference psyop” set on manipulating November’s presidential election. 

Swift has attended over 13-games to cheer on her boyfriend’s team and each time, a parade of cameras and commentaries descend on her every reaction. As their relationship played out publicly, some conspiracy theorists couldn’t help but slump into misogynistic trappings. 

On Monday, Jack Posobiec, a Trump supported who has been found to have “collaborated with white supremacists, neo-fascists and antisemites for years”, accused Swift of being “used”, though he failed to clarify whom she was being used by. 

“I think – and I’ve said this, I’ve taken a lot of crap for this online – I think they’re using Taylor Swift right now,” he said in a video posted on Truth Social. 

“They’re gearing up for an operation to use Taylor Swift in the election against everything: against Trump, for Biden, they’re gonna get her and all you know they call them the Swifties they’re going to turn those into voters, you watch.”

Former actor-turned controversial rightwing figure Roseanne Barr appeared alongside Posobiec in the video, saying, “I think that’s what they’re doing too, she’s definitely somebody who’s consented to speak the way the establishment wants to be spoken of.” 

“She has a lot of young girls…I think that’s gonna be the way they’re going to try to get on top of the next election.” 

The 71-year old former Nanny star and 2012 presidential nominee of the Peace and Freedom Party is a Trump supporter, appearing at a rally in Florida in November, calling the Former President the “Magador-in-Chief.”

Former Republican presidential candidate and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy responded to Posobiec’s post, writing 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. Just some wild speculation over here, let’s see how it ages over the next 8 months.”

Ramaswamy has spread harmful misinformation about a number of issues in the past, including his claim that the January 6 insurrection was “an inside job” and that the 2020 election was stolen by “big tech.” 

Self-described Islamophobe and conservative Laura Loomer said “The Democrats’ Taylor Swift election interference psyop is happening in the open.”

“It’s not a coincidence that current and former Biden admin officials are propping up Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce. They are going to use Taylor Swift as the poster child for their pro-abortion GOTV Campaign.”

Meanwhile, comedians have come out to ridicule these rightwing theories. On Tuesday night, Jimmy Kimmel opened his show with a monologue calling the theorists “a couple of nuts.”

Reading out a number of tweets, including one from Ramaswamy, Kimmel quibbed: 

“So let me get this straight: The same people who think Joe Biden has dementia and has Kamala Harris feed him butterscotch tapioca every night, also believe that he has somehow planned and executed a diabolically brilliant scheme to fix the NFL playoffs so the biggest pop star in the world can pop up on the jumbotron during the Super Bowl in between a Kia and a Tostitos commercial to hypnotize her 11-year-old fans into voting for Joe Biden?” he said on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

“I mean, it makes sense… These people think football is fake and wrestling is real.”

Swift has not yet issued an endorsement in the upcoming presidential race, though she is reported to be on Joe Biden aides’ “wish lists of potential surrogates”. 

The post Right-wing personalities claim Taylor Swift is rigging 2024 presidential election appeared first on Women's Agenda.

This is the legacy of Donald Trump, the former president of the US seeking to be re-elected in the 2024 election. Simultaneously, Trump is facing trials across the country for fraud, obstruction of justice and, most notably, his role in the January 6 2021 riots in Washington D.C.

Trump is currently leading the polls and will likely head into the election as the primary candidate for the Republican party, despite his ongoing legal battles.

However, his growing popularity is being met with resistance from Americans who refuse to let Trump curtail the law. And leading this resistance is women of colour.

In an article written last year with Cliff Albright, metoo founder Tarana Burke explained just how powerful Black women can be when it comes to changing societal and political structures, especially around election time.

“We have witnessed, time and time against, the ways in which Black women have harnessed collective community power to shape the world around them for the better,” Burke wrote. “From shaping movements to elections, Black women are political change-makers.”

The re-election of Donald Trump as the president of the US places Black women and women of colour in significant danger of his racist, sexist ideology and agenda – which is exactly why it is them leading the charge to put him out of the running for presidency.

Here are just some of the women standing up against Donald Trump ahead of the 2024 election.

Letitia James

New York Attorney General Letitia James brought forth a civil fraud trial against Donald Trump in 2022. In her case, she accused The Trump Organisation of conspiring to inflate his net worth by billions of dollars on financial statements provided to banks and insurers to make deals and secure loans.

According to James and the legal team for the Attorney General’s office, Trump’s net worth increased by up to $US2.2 billion ($AUD3.28 billion).

Today, my office will present our closing arguments in our trial against Donald Trump for financial fraud.

For years, Donald Trump engaged in significant financial fraud to enrich himself and his family.

No matter how rich or powerful you pretend to be, no one is above the law.

— NY AG James (@NewYorkStateAG) January 11, 2024

On Thursday, lawyers representing the state of New York and Trump gave their closing arguments to the court. James made a powerful statement on X condemning Trump’s alleged behaviour.

“For years, Donald Trump engaged in significant financial fraud to enrich himself and his family,” she said.

“No matter how rich or powerful you pretend to be, no one is above the law.”

Kamala Harris

Last week on January 6 marked exactly three years since Donald Trump allegedly incited a violent attack on the Capitol building in Washington D.C. in 2021.

It was a moment that shocked the world and demonstrated the capability of Trump supporters for causing violence and literally endangering the US’ political system.

Last week, Vice President Kamala Harris posted on X remembering the day and condemning Trump for his alleged role in the attacks.

“At 12pm on January 6, 2021, Trump kicked off his rally near the White House where he called on Mike Pence to reject Joe Biden’s win,” she wrote.

“An hour later, as Republican lawmakers objected to counting the electoral ballots of Arizona, a large crowd of Trump’s supporters marched toward the Capitol.”

Extremist leaders say the mob that violently attacked the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021 was led by “great patriots.”

Is that how you define who loves our country? pic.twitter.com/mTFnH0cmhe

— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) January 6, 2024

In a separate post, Harris accused Trump of misleading Americans into thinking the events of January 6 2021 were nothing by peaceful.

“A mob violently attacked the Capitol on January 6, 2021 using brutal force and fear to try and overturn the results of a free and fair election,” she wrote. “Trump and extremists try to mislead and gaslight by claiming it was a peaceful protest… Like we weren’t watching?”

As the 2024 election looms, Vice President Kamala Harris is also seeking the re-election of the Biden administration and seeking to defeat Trump, Biden’s main rival.

Whoopi Goldberg

Whoopi Goldberg is the host of ABC’s program The View, and on Thursday, Republican politician Liz Cheney came on the show as a guest.

On the show, when Cheney said she hasn’t “ruled out” running as the Republican nominee for the presidency, Goldberg urged her to run to eliminate the risk that Trump poses on American democracy.

“I don’t know if the Republican party as we knew it will survive this,” Goldberg said on the show.

“If he ever gets in again, we’ll never have any more elections… he’s very clear about that. He wants to be a dictator for life!”

The post Women of colour in the US are fighting against a Trump re-election appeared first on Women's Agenda.

Trump is now the first presidential candidate in the history of the US to be banned from running for office.

On Tuesday, the Court ruled in favor of a group of voters in Colorado, who argued that Trump’s involvement in the 2021 January 6 riots in Washington D.C. made him ineligible to be on the ballot paper for the 2024 presidential election.

A legal action group in the US, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), aided the voters to take the case to court. CREW’s President Noah Bookbinder said the court’s decision on Tuesday was a win for democracy.

“It is not only historic and justified, but is necessary to protect the future of democracy in our country,” Bookbinder said.

“Our Constitution clearly states that those who violate their oath by attacking our democracy are barred from serving in government.

“It has been an honor to represent the petitioners, and we look forward to ensuring that this vitally important ruling stands.”

Today's ruling is not only historic and justified, but is necessary to protect the future of democracy in our country.

We couldn't be prouder of our role in making this happen. https://t.co/TI49fclwY5

— Citizens for Ethics (@CREWcrew) December 20, 2023

The decision from Colorado’s Supreme Court will only affect the ballot paper in that state; that is, while Donald Trump can run for president in other states in America, he cannot in Colorado.

In the last four presidential elections, the state of Colorado has voted Democrat and has been widely regarded as a safe Democrat state.

This means that, whether Donald Trump is barred from running for president in the state or not, election predictors suggest Colorado will likely vote for a Democrat president anyway.

The Supreme Court’s decision also only applies to the primary election coming up on March 5. Voters in this election decide which presidential candidate will represent the Democrat and Republican parties.

However, the decision will likely impact how voters view Trump as a candidate for the president of the US in the general election, which will take place in November 2024.

Trump’s lawyers said they intend to appeal the decision. Meanwhile, the lawyers who represented the group of voters in Colorado hope other states follow suit and hope for the case to go all the way to the US Supreme Court.

The Capitol Hill riots

On January 6, Donald Trump spoke to a large crowd at Washington D.C., at a rally called “Save America”. Behind him, Congress was preparing to confirm the election results of the 2020 presidential election, which saw President Joe Biden win.

“We will never concede,” he said to the crow. “They rigged it like they’ve never rigged an election before…we won. We won in a landslide. This was a landslide.

“After this, we’re going to walk down and I’ll be there with you…you have to show strength, and you have to be strong.”

Following the rally, thousands of Trump supporters violently stormed the US Capitol building. Lawmakers inside the building were forced into lockdown and told to wear gas masks, as rioters released tear gas, smashing things inside and parts of the building along the way. Five people died during the protests.

Trump is facing charges in relation to the January 6 riots.

The post Donald Trump disqualified from presidential election in Colorado, court rules appeared first on Women's Agenda.

Boy math is a TikTok trend being used by women to describe the stereotypical ways heterosexual men try to rationalise or misvalue numbers in real-world situations.

A classic example: “Boy math is how 5’10” measures 6′”.

“Boy math is being afraid of gold diggers when you only have 3 pairs of socks to your name,” one tweet said.

“Boy math is having a 70-inch tv but no dining table” another said.

Another viral tweet added: “Boy math is wanting 0 kids but having 0 condoms on hand.”

It follows the “girl math” trend which attempts to poke fun at the way women stereotypically think about their personal finances. Example: A $400 handbag that you will use every day over a year is really costing you just over $1 per day.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Women's Agenda (@womensagenda)

In the United States, Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez put her own spin on the trend, poking fun at Speaker of the House, Republican Kevin McCarthy over his attempts to avoid a government shutdown. He has since been removed from his role as House speaker, with a number of hard-right members of his own Republican party joining forces with Democrats to vote for his removal.

“Boy math is needing 15 attempts to count the votes correctly to become Speaker and then shutting down the government 9 months later,” she wrote. She then followed up with: “Boy Math, Part 2: Motion to Vacate”.

Across social media, some people have used boy math to poke fun at specific people – one popular target is Elon Musk and his takeover of Twitter (now known as X).

“Boy math is paying $44 billion for a $25 billion company and, through business smarts and entrepreneurial know how, turning it into an $8.8 billion company,” a tweet read.

Unsurprisingly, Donald Trump has also been a target of boy math.

“Boy Math is telling everyone you won an election when you actually lost by millions of votes.”

The post Trump, Musk and Kevin McCarthy can’t escape boy math appeared first on Women's Agenda.

The 77-year-old flew from his New Jersey golf club and arrived at the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta, Georgia on Thursday at around 7:30pm local time (Friday 9:30am AEST).

For the first time since his first criminal indictment in April, Trump has had his mugshot taken.

In a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, the former president said it was “yet another SAD DAY IN AMERICA”.

“I have to start getting ready to head down to Atlanta, Georgia to get ARRESTED by a Radical Left, Lowlife District Attorney,” he wrote.

“For a PERFECT PHONE CALL, and having the audacity to challenge a RIGGED AND STOLLEN (sic) ELECTION.”

A grand jury charged Trump and 19 others last week over alleged conspiracy to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election results, which fell in favour of current US president Joe Biden. The jury ordered the accused, including the former president, to “voluntarily surrender”.

Trump’s lawyers negotiated his release from jail with a bail of USD $200,000 (AUD $312,000).

Protestors and journalists gathered outside of the jail to witness his appearance at the county jail.

Trump and his co-accused are expected to appear at Atlanta’s Fulton County Court for arraignment hearings (charges will be read before a judge and accused can enter a plea) in September via a video call. 

The judge has approved the presence of a news camera in the court for the arraignment hearing next month.

The criminal trial date is expected to be in March 2024, although some co-defendants, including Kenneth Chesebro, applied for a fast-tracked trial on October 23.

The latest is the fourth of Trump’s criminal indictments since April this year. He is the first former president of the US to be facing criminal charges.

He is also facing separate charges relating to election interference in Washington D.C, falsifying business records in New York and mishandling classified documents in Miami.

In an interview on Fox News with Tucker Carlson, Trump called his criminal indictments “bullshit”.

Despite his charges, Trump remains in the running for the 2024 presidential election in the US, where he is well ahead in polls against his fellow Republican candidates.

During the Republican primary presidential debate, which Trump bailed on for the Fox News interview, six out of the eight candidates that spoke said they would still support Trump as the party’s nominee, even his hen were to be convicted of his alleged crimes.

The post Donald Trump turns himself in to authorities over fourth criminal indictment appeared first on Women's Agenda.

On Tuesday, Trump’s lawyers filed a counterclaim against Carroll in the Southern District of New York federal court, accusing the columnist of the “false statements” she made during an appearance on CNN cable news on May 10 where she alleged he raped her — an allegation he has consistently denied, and had called a “hoax”.

During the CNN appearance, Carroll responded to the jury’s findings that Trump did not rape her, saying, “Oh, yes, he did—oh, yes, he did.”

Trump has accused Carroll of acting with “actual malice and ill will with an intent to significantly and spitefully harm and attack” his reputation, and his lawyers are asking for a retraction, along with “compensatory and punitive damages.” 

Last month, the jury awarded Carroll $US5 million in damages in her civil case against Trump. In her testimony during the trial, Carroll accused Trump of raping her in a New York City department store in 1996, and then ruining her reputation by calling her a liar when she told her story in 2019.

Carroll filed her first lawsuit against Trump in November 2019. In that claim, she accused him of defaming her after he dismissed her rape allegation and claimed he didn’t know who she was. Last month, Carroll amended this appeal, seeking an additional $10m in damages for Trump’s denials during the CNN appearance the day after the verdict. 

Carroll filed a second lawsuit against Trump in 2022, after the state of New York passed a law allowing survivors of sexual violence a chance to file civil suits even if the statute of limitations on their claims had expired.

In this second lawsuit, she accused him of battery and defamation. 

When the jury found in favour of Carroll last month, she appeared on NBC News saying she was “overwhelmed with joy and happiness and delight for the women in this country.”

This week, allegations of further disturbing criminal behaviour by Trump have been shared in the release of a new book by a former staffer of his administration, who shares details about occasions where Trump made lewd comments about his daughter Ivanka. 

Miles Taylor, who served as a Department of Homeland Security Chief of Staff under Trump, shares extremely repulsive things the former president allegedly said about his daughter in front of his colleagues in his book, Blowback: A Warning to Save Democracy from the Next Trump.

Another Chief of Staff reportedly recounted a conversation “in visible disgust,” Taylor writes. “Trump, he said, was ‘a very, very evil man.’”

The post Donald Trump sues E Jean Carroll for defamation appeared first on Women's Agenda.

In an Instagram Live on Tuesday, the 31-year-old gave a detailed account of what happened when the pro-Trump mob stormed the United States Capitol. She described how she hid in the bathroom in her office during the attack, reiterating that she thought she was going to die.

Ocasio-Cortez said as she hid behind a bathroom door, she heard banging on the walls and a man shouting “Where is she? Where is she?” as he came closer.

“I immediately realized I shouldn’t have gone into the bathroom. I should have gone in the closet,” she told her viewers. “Then I hear whoever was trying to get inside got into my office. I realize it’s too late.”

“This was the moment I thought everything was over. I thought I was going to die.”

This was one of the most heartbreaking moments of AOC’s IG live pic.twitter.com/BumKbriwmy

— grant (@urdadssidepiece) February 2, 2021

As a survivor of sexual assault, Ocasio-Cortez said the incident had rattled her deeply, compounding her already existing trauma. She also said that the Republicans who are telling her and other Democrats to move on from the events of January 6, are using the same tactics as abusers.

“They’re trying to tell us to move on without any accountability, without any truth-telling, or without confronting the extreme damage, loss of life, trauma,” she said during the livestream.

“The reason I say this, and the reason I’m getting emotional is because they told us to move on, that it’s not a big deal, that we should forget what happened, or even telling us to apologise. These are the tactics of abusers.

“I’m a survivor of sexual assault and I haven’t told many people that in my life.

“My story is not the only story, nor is it the central story, it’s one of many stories of what these people did in creating this environment.

“These folks who are just trying to tell us to move on are just like pulling the page – they’re using the same tactics – of every other abuser who tells you to move on.”

My story isn’t the only story, nor is it the central story of what happened on Jan 6th.

It is just one story of many of those whose lives were endangered at the Capitol by the lies, threats, and violence fanned by the cowardice of people who chose personal gain above democracy.

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 2, 2021

Ocasio-Cortez told her Instagram Live audience of more than 150,000 people that America cannot move on from the attack until those responsible are held accountable. She also doubled down on her calls for Republican senators Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley to resign.

“These people remain a present danger…When given another window of political opportunity for themselves, even if they know that it means that it will endanger their colleagues, they will do it again.”

The post Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez opens up about trauma & gives detailed account of the Capitol attack appeared first on Women's Agenda.

Trump also blamed the internet and mental illness for the latest spate of violence perpetrated by two separate gunmen, who in total, killed 31 people and injured 53 in under 24 hours.

These are the President’s first public remarks about the shootings, which occurred in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio. He also commented on the anti-immigrant manifesto which was allegedly tied to the gunmen in El Paso.

The manifesto stated that the act was “a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas” and expressed sympathy for the white nationalist massacre at mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand earlier this year. The shooter later told investigators he wanted to kill as many Mexicans as he could.

“The shooter in El Paso posted a manifesto online consumed by racist hate,” Trump said. “In one voice, our nation must condemn racism, bigotry and white supremacy.”

It is at odds with Trump’s preferred rhetorics on these issues. Recently, he told four U.S congresswomen of colour to  “go back” to where they came from. And he did nothing to assuage the chants of “Send her back!” at recent rallies, later saying about the chanting – “I felt a little bit badly about it.”

Trump did not use his speech to mention any further restrictions on gun control and failed to call for Congress to return from summer recess to consider new reforms.

Who is to blame for these atrocities?

“Mental illness and hatred pull the trigger, not the gun,” Trump said.

In a tweet hours before his speech, however, Trump said that  “Republicans and Democrats must come together and get strong background checks.”

He also added, “perhaps marrying….this legislation with desperately needed immigration reform. We must have something good, if not GREAT, come out of these two tragic events!”

Since the two mass shootings, Trump has deliberately and consistently avoided the issue of firearms, instead channeling the dialogue towards “sinister ideologies” that “must be defeated.”

He addressed the nation from the White House on Monday, saying “Hate has no place in America.”

This is a man who openly laughed and made a joke of a comment from a crowd member suggesting to shoot migrants.

If guns are not what’s causing these merciless violence, what is? According to Trump, it’s “mentally disturbed individuals.” He believes the solution is to “make sure those people, not only get treatment, but when necessary, involuntary confinement.”

What else is to blame? Video games.

“It is too easy today for troubled youth to surround themselves with a culture that celebrates violence,” he said. “The gruesome and grisly video games are now common place. We must stop or substantially reduce this, and it has to begin immediately.”

This, despite common knowledge now that there is no correlation between video games and violence. A 2004 report by the Secret Service and Department of Education revealed that out of dozens of mass shootings, only 12% of perpetrators showed interest in violent video games. Trump’s own administration released a report last year that found weak links connecting video games with mass shootings.

On Twitter, #VideogamesAreNotToBlame is trending, after shares in some of America’s biggest video game makers came under heavy selling pressure. 

Entertainment Software Association even responded, saying, “More than 165 million Americans enjoy video games, and billions of people play video games worldwide. Yet other societies, where video games are played as avidly, do not contend with the tragic levels of violence that occur in the U.S.”

In the years before his presidency, Trump accumulated a long record of insulting rhetoric involving African Americans, Mexicans, Hispanics, Native Americans, Muslims, Jews, immigrants, women, and people with disabilities. These are frightening sentiments from a man who has built his political career on explicit racism, bigotry and white supremacy ideology.

Beto O’Rouke, 2020 democratic presidential candidate and a native of El Paso, has linked Trump’s remarks to that of Nazi Germany: “The only modern western democracy that I can think of that said anything close to this is the Third Reich, Nazi Germany.” O’Rouke continues to encourage the media to call out the president’s racist rhetoric. “We know what Trump is doing. He stokes racism. He incites violence. We shouldn’t be asking if there’s anything he can do or if he’s responsible for this when we know the answer.”

Guns take the lives of roughly 100 people in the states each day. Between 1966 and 2012, the U.S had more than 270 million guns and 90 mass shooters. No other country had more than 46 million guns or 18 mass shooters. Yet, this current president continues to renege on previous vows to toughen gun control laws. Last year, he signed legislation to increase federal agency data sharing into the background check system of gun owners, but nothing has come of that yet.

In her opinion piece in today’s New York Times, columnist Michelle Goldberg said, “Donald Trump has kept the far right excited and agitated.”

She rightly states the connection between Trump’s language about an immigrant “invasion” and Democratic support for “open borders,” to the El Paso shooter’s manifesto.

What horrifies me now with an almost unbearable hellish dread is that it’ll be no time at all before we see, once again, the president turn the language of white nationalism into mainstream political rhetoric. This sort of normalisation is killing people. It is violence, at its most base level.

The post Donald Trump: Video games, internet & mental illness – not guns – to blame for mass shootings appeared first on Women's Agenda.

She said she never regretted the gesture, despite the fact she was fired within days of the photo going viral, by the government contractor she worked for.

Now the marketing executive is running for local office in Northern Virginia, according to the Washington Post. She’ll run against Rebublican Suzanne M. Volpe, who currently represents the Algonkian District on the area’s Board of Supervisors.

The Washington Post says the county usually votes Democrat at a state and federal level but this board has long been controlled by Republicans.

Briskman says she got the idea to run after being fired. She said Americans have a right to peacefully protest and express dissent towards government. She added that she would “probably” flip the bird again.

“I’ve gotten some feedback that folks say you should respect the president. Even if you don’t like what they’re doing, you shouldn’t show this sort of disdain. And I simply disagree, and I think the Constitution grants me that privilege,” she told the Washington Post.

She added she’d run on a platform of aiming to better fund the county’s schools and on increasing transparency in local government.

“He was passing by and my blood just started to boil,” Briskman told the Huffington Post after the photo went viral. “I’m thinking about the Daca recipients are getting kicked out. He pulled ads for open enrolment in Obamacare. Only one third of Puerto Rico has power. I’m thinking, he’s at the damn golf course again,”

This cyclist flipped off Trump’s motorcade pic.twitter.com/HBgVHeIari

— NowThis (@nowthisnews) October 29, 2017

The post She was fired for giving the finger to Trump’s motorcade. Now Juli Briskman is running for office appeared first on Women's Agenda.

Stay Smart, Get Savvy. Subscribe to our daily lunchtime update here. 

Conservative picked. 

The post Today’s Agenda: Trump’s conservative Supreme Court pick raises concerns for women appeared first on Women's Agenda.