Will Taylor Swift Endorse Him in 2024? Biden Says That’s ‘Classified’ 

US President Joe Biden (R), flanked by host Seth Meyers (L), eats an ice cream cone at Van Leeuwen Ice Cream after taping an episode of "Late Night with Seth Meyers" in New York City on February 26, 2024. (AFP)
US President Joe Biden (R), flanked by host Seth Meyers (L), eats an ice cream cone at Van Leeuwen Ice Cream after taping an episode of "Late Night with Seth Meyers" in New York City on February 26, 2024. (AFP)
TT
20

Will Taylor Swift Endorse Him in 2024? Biden Says That’s ‘Classified’ 

US President Joe Biden (R), flanked by host Seth Meyers (L), eats an ice cream cone at Van Leeuwen Ice Cream after taping an episode of "Late Night with Seth Meyers" in New York City on February 26, 2024. (AFP)
US President Joe Biden (R), flanked by host Seth Meyers (L), eats an ice cream cone at Van Leeuwen Ice Cream after taping an episode of "Late Night with Seth Meyers" in New York City on February 26, 2024. (AFP)

US President Joe Biden made light of conspiracy theories about him and pop superstar Taylor Swift during an appearance on a late night show and had a ready answer to the question of whether she'll endorse him in 2024: that's classified.

During an appearance on NBC's "Late Night with Seth Meyers" on Monday, Biden, a Democrat, joked with Meyers, a comedian, about conspiracy theories that the president and the singer-songwriter are in "cahoots." Meyers said recent polling showed 18% of Americans believed Biden and Swift were somehow working together.

"Can you confirm or deny that there is an active conspiracy between you and Ms. Swift?" Meyers asked Biden.

"Where are you getting this information?" the president quipped, to laughter. "It’s classified."

Swift, whose massive popularity with young people would be a boon for the president as he runs for re-election in 2024, endorsed Biden in 2020, the president happily pointed out.

"You think it might come around again?" Meyers asked.

"I told you, it’s classified," Biden replied.

Biden's appearance on the show, which was taped on Monday and broadcast early on Tuesday, is the latest attempt by the president to connect with younger people and dispel concerns about his age after a special counsel's report raised questions about his memory and mental acuity.

Biden, 81, noted that former President Donald Trump, his likely Republican rival, 77, was close to him in age and has had his own problems with verbal slip-ups.

"You got to take a look at the other guy. He's about as old as I am, but he can't even remember his wife's name," Biden said, referencing Trump's recent appearance at the conservative CPAC conference in which some thought he referred to his wife, Melania, as "Mercedes."

Mercedes Schlapp, a former communications official in Trump's White House, is one of CPAC's organizers. The former president's reference may have been to her.

Biden also sought to address concerns about his age by comparing his policies with Trump's in areas such as abortion. Biden supports women's rights to abortion; Trump has expressed pride in naming three new justices to the Supreme Court during his tenure who later helped repeal the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that had guaranteed abortion rights nationwide.

"It's about how old your ideas are. Look, I mean, this is a guy who wants to take us back," Biden said, referring to Trump. "He wants to take us back in Roe v. Wade. He wants to take us back on a whole range of issues."



Brian Wilson's Top Five Beach Boys Songs

Musician Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys performs onstage at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards. KEVIN WINTER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File
Musician Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys performs onstage at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards. KEVIN WINTER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File
TT
20

Brian Wilson's Top Five Beach Boys Songs

Musician Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys performs onstage at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards. KEVIN WINTER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File
Musician Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys performs onstage at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards. KEVIN WINTER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File

From the carefree sound of California surf music to the sophistication of later darker works, here are five of the top hits penned by influential Beach Boys founder Brian Wilson.

'Surfin' USA' (1963)

"Surfin' USA" was the Beach Boys' first global hit, taken from their eponymous debut album. A youthful ode to sea, sun and girls, it became an anthem for the West Coast and beyond.

It demonstrated Brian Wilson's increasing songwriting prowess as well as the band's unique vocal sound achieved thanks to double tracking.

"We'll all be gone for the summer/ We're on safari to stay/ Tell the teacher we're surfin'/ Surfin' USA," it rang out.

Wilson intentionally set his lyrics to the music of "Sweet Little Sixteen," by Chuck Berry, leading Berry to take legal action.

'California Girls' (1965)

On the big hit of the summer of 1965, Wilson's cousin Mike Love burst into song to celebrate the sun-tanned women of California.

"I wish they all could be California girls," the band members sang in seemless harmony.

It was also the first song written by Wilson under the influence of LSD, "which could explain why the accompaniment seems to move in a slow, steady daze at odds with the song's bright, major-key melody," Rolling Stone magazine wrote.

'God Only Knows' (1966)

It took Wilson just 45 minutes to write "God Only Knows," the legendary eighth track on the album "Pet Sounds" which has gone down as one of the greatest love songs ever.

Sung by brother Carl Wilson, Brian's rival Paul McCartney declared it to be his favorite song of all time and said it reduced him to tears.

But the record company and other members of the group were wary at the new turn in style.

'Good Vibrations'(1966)

"Good Vibrations" was a massive commercial success, selling one million copies in the United States and topping charts there and in several other countries including the UK.

At the time the most expensive single ever made, the "pocket symphony" was recorded in four different studios, consumed over 90 hours of tape and included a complexity of keys, textures, moods and instrumentation.

The song was a far cry from the group's surf-and-sun origins and the enormity of the task brought Wilson to the brink. He was unable to go on and complete the album "Smile," of which the song was to have been the centerpiece.

- 'Til I die' (1971) -

On side B of the album "Surf's Up,'Til I die" was composed in 1969 by a depressed Wilson worn down by mental illness and addiction.

He wrote in his 1991 autobiography that it was perhaps the most personal song he had written for the Beach Boys.