Taylor Swift launches attack on Donald Trump for ‘stoking the fires of white supremacy’, vows: ‘We will vote you out’
Taylor Swift attends the 77th Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 05, 2020 in Beverly Hills, California. (Frazer Harrison/Getty)
Taylor Swift has rallied her 86.1 million followers to take a stand against Donald Trump “stoking the fires of white supremacy” and vote him out of office in November.
Tweeting on Friday, the pop icon and LGBT+ ally added her powerful voice to the wave of protests sparked by the police murder of George Floyd, which was followed two days later by the fatal police shooting of Black trans man Tony McDade.
The outcry from the African American community has highlighted the countless lives lost to systemic racism in the US, including a disproportionate number of transgender women of colour.
Directly tagging the president, Swift furiously wrote: “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.”
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
With six million more followers than Trump himself, Swift is among the most visible of celebrities using their fame to drive political conversations.
The ‘Bad Blood’ singer took an apolitical stance for most of her career, which she explained in the Netflix documentary Miss Americana was part of her desire to maintain a “good girl” image. She remained pointedly silent throughout the 2016 election even as celebrity after celebrity endorsed Hillary Clinton.
However, in recent years she has been moved to speak out against societal injustice, and she broke her political silence with a campaign for the Equality Act, a proposed law to protect LGBT+ people from discrimination in all 50 US states.
The petition – which attracted half a million signatures – was launched off the back of Swift’s pro-LGBT+ anthem ‘You Need to Calm Down’.
Her work fighting for the LGBT+ equality saw her honoured with an ally award from GLAAD in January of this year.
