Last year, Taylor Swift vowed to be more politically active, especially during the 2020 Election cycle. Keeping her promise, the pop megastar has just eviscerated Donald Trump in her very first public tweet to mention him by name.
“After stoking the fires of white supremacy and racism your entire presidency, you have the nerve to feign moral superiority before threatening violence?” she wrote on Twitter on Friday. “‘When the looting starts the shooting starts’??? “We will vote you out in November. @realdonaldtrump”
After stoking the fires of white supremacy and racism your entire presidency, you have the nerve to feign moral superiority before threatening violence? ‘When the looting starts the shooting starts’??? We will vote you out in November. @realdonaldtrump
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) May 29, 2020
Her sharp comments were in response to Trump’s incendiary tweets regarding the protests taking place across Minneapolis. Residents there have been taking to the streets all week following the murder of unarmed black man George Floyd. Not only did Trump condemn protestors, but also threatened to send in the National Guard to take violent action against them.
“….These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen,” Trump posted on Twitter earlier this morning. “Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!”
Trump’s message has since been denounced by politicians, and Twitter itself even flagged the tweet for glorifying violence. In a statement, the social media platform said it restricted Trump’s tweet “based on the historical context of the last line, its connection to violence, and the risk it could inspire similar actions today,” according to The New York Times.
….These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen. Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 29, 2020
Potests have only escalated since Floyd’s death on May 25th. He died while in police custody after a white officer kept his knee on Floyd’s neck for too long, despite not resisting arrest.
Although Swift’s Twitter comments may have been a first, she has been outspoken about her disdain for Trump in other ways. In an interview with The Guardian last summer, she claimed Trump was “gaslighting the American public” into believing “If you hate the president, you hate America.” The Lover singer added, “We’re a democracy – at least, we’re supposed to be – where you’re allowed to disagree, dissent, debate. I really think that he thinks this is an autocracy.”
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In a slight against Trump’s administration, Swift also made a rare political statement in support of two local Democratic politicians during the 2018 midterm elections. Trump responded childishly by saying he liked her music “25 percent less.”
As Election Day draws closer, it’s likely we’ll be hearing more from Swift, as she pledged to “do everything I can for 2020.” Earlier this week, she and Jack Antonoff shared a new rendition of “Look What You Made Me Do” recorded for Killing Eve.
