Joe Biden pokes fun at the conspiracy theories surrounding the Super Bowl.
Photo: JOHN G. BANGLO / EPA
The discussion really took off in the US after the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Baltimore Ravens and made it to the Super Bowl. In the Chiefs there is Travis Kelce, nowadays best known for being the boyfriend of world artist Taylor Swift.
In 2020, Swift stood behind Joe Biden in the presidential election. It is against this background that a conspiracy theory took hold in the United States.
Rolling Stone wrote the week before the Super Bowl that several Trump supporters posted on social media their suspicions that the entire NFL season was rigged for the Chiefs to win — which would convince Swift to back Biden again, this time for the fall presidential election. Rolling Stone also wrote, with references to “sources close to Trump” that Trump would start “a holy war” against Swift if she backed Biden again.
The criticism against Biden – after the joke against Trump after the Super Bowl
The conspiracy theory that the NFL must have been rigged has gained a lot of space in the American media. Among other things, talk show host Jimmy Kimmel joked about it and NFL base Roger Goodell felt forced to publicly comment – and dismiss – the speculation.
Apparently they also reached out to Biden and his team. After the Chiefs’ win over the San Francisco 49ers on Monday night, he posted a joke picture of X with the caption “Just as we planned”.
An obvious jab at the conspiracy theories.
https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1756888470599967000
Newspapers like Daily Mail and New York Post has drawn attention to Biden’s mockery – but on X on the American president very harsh criticism.
At the same time as the Super Bowl, Israel carried out airstrikes against the border town of Rafah in southern Gaza. Israel’s military (IDF) confirms on Telegram that it attacked what it calls terrorist targets in Shaboura in southern Gaza and that the attacks are over.
At least 100 people were killed, writes the Palestinian news agency Wafa, referring to the Hamas-run Palestinian health authorities.
But the death tolls differ.
Reuters reports, citing local health authorities, that 37 people have been killed and dozens injured. At the same time, the news agency AP refers to local medical personnel who say that at least 50 people have been killed.
US President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel should not carry out a military operation against Rafah in southern Gaza without a plan to protect civilians, in a phone call on Sunday.
Many on X are extremely critical of Biden’s timing on his post, that he chooses to joke about the Super Bowl at the same time that Israel is carrying out an attack on that very place.
