Hillary Clinton’s tongue-in-cheek social-media post, in which she congratulated “Taylor Swift’s boyfriend” and the Kansas City Chiefs on their Super Bowl LVIII win, has sparked a backlash online.
The Chiefs secured a 25-22 victory in overtime over the San Francisco 49ers at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium on Sunday following a tense game. The win saw the Chiefs secure back-to-back Super Bowl victories.
While the next big thing during the Super Bowl is usually the half-time show, Usher’s efforts weren’t enough to overshadow the coverage of pop star Swift being present to cheer on her boyfriend, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.
Swift, who had jetted back to the U.S. from Japan just hours earlier to attend the game, has become a star attraction at Chiefs games since she and Kelce started their romance last year.
Huge numbers of non-football fans have now started tuning in for Chiefs games in the hopes of catching a glimpse of Swift. Some told Newsweek that they were watching the Super Bowl for the very first time, solely because of the singer-songwriter.
In light of the attention, some conservatives have baselessly said that Swift is a Democratic operative who is in a fake relationship with Kelce. The union, they have added, will lead to the couple endorsing President Joe Biden for reelection this November, so aiding his return to the White House while riding high on Super Bowl glory.
Amid the online discussions, Clinton took to X, formerly Twitter, to congratulate the Chiefs with a tongue-in-cheek post.
As some of these conservatives shared unfounded claims that the Super Bowl was rigged in favor of the Chiefs.
“Congratulations to Taylor’s boyfriend—and the entire Kansas City Chiefs community!” Clinton wrote. As of press time, the post has been viewed more than 8.1 million times
The post attracted a flood of negative comments from X users, a number of whom slammed the former presidential candidate for not using Kelce’s name. Newsweek has contacted a representative of Hillary Clinton via email for comment.
“He has a name,” one X user commented in response to the post.
Echoing that sentiment, former MMA fighter Jake Shields wrote on X: “You could Google his name instead of calling him Taylor’s boyfriend.”
“Unlike you the @Chiefs have won something,” wrote one detractor, in reference to Clinton’s unsuccessful bid for the White House in 2016.
Another made note of Clinton being the wife of former President Bill Clinton, asking: “Hey Bill’s wife, did you enjoy the game?”
Amid the criticism, some X users pointed out that Hillary Clinton’s omission of Kelce’s was all done in fun.
“She knows his name, they said it enough, she’s just trolling,” noted one X user called Don Martin.
Bro, that’s the joke,” another posted, as they responded to a post criticizing the politician for not referring to Kelce by his name.
“MAGAs are no doubt crying, Hillary Clinton!” another wrote of the win.
One X user commented that the Super Bowl post was “the Barbie tweet all over again.”
Late last month, Hillary Clinton commented on Barbie star Margot Robbie and director Greta Gerwig missing out on Academy Awards nominations for their efforts in the hit movie.
“Greta & Margot, While it can sting to win the box office but not take home the gold, your millions of fans love you,” Clinton wrote on X. “You’re both so much more than Kenough.”
At the time, Clinton’s words caught the attention of conservative commentator Candace Owens. She said those involved in the discourse were “a bunch of hyper-privileged woke women” airing their grievances.
“This is literally why everybody hates feminism,” Owens commented in response to Clinton’s post. “A bunch of hyper-privileged woke women are crying because a woman who played Barbie isn’t being considered for best actress in an [Oscars] category. This is the feminist plight today.”
Underscoring her feelings on the matter, Owens added: “Feminists: ‘if we do ANYTHING we need to be handed a trophy…especially if Barbie is involved!'”
Swift and Kelce became one of the hottest new celebrity couples after going public with their romance in September. At the time, the singer captured headlines when she attended a Chiefs game alongside her partner’s mother, Donna Kelce.
Swift has since become a fixture at Chiefs games, with NFL broadcasts often focusing on her presence—much to the exasperation of some football fans.
“I’m just there to support Travis,” Swift recently told Time magazine. “I have no awareness of if I’m being shown too much and p****** off a few dads, Brads, and Chads.”
Addressing the cameras often panning her way, Swift said: “I don’t know how they know what suite I’m in. There’s a camera, like, a half-mile away, and you don’t know where it is, and you have no idea when [the] camera is putting you in the broadcast, so I don’t know if I’m being shown 17 times or once.”
“Football is awesome, it turns out,” Swift added (“playfully,” according to Sam Lansky, the author of the story). “I’ve been missing out my whole life.”
