Taylor Swift to Trump: We will vote you out in November
CELEBRITIES from Cardi B to Kim Kardashian have used their massive social media platforms to condemn the death of George Floyd, the Minneapolis man who died after a police officer knelt on his neck.
And after a chaotic night of protests and a tweet from President Donald Trump that Twitter hid for ‘glorifying violence’ (calling protesters ‘THUGS’ and adding, ‘when the looting starts, the shooting starts’), another celebrity spoke up with a harsh message – and it wasn’t who anyone might have expected.
“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’???” Taylor Swift tweeted to her 86 million followers Friday morning, tagging Trump’s Twitter handle. “We will vote you out in November.”
Immediately, the shocked social media reactions started pouring in, as it was retweeted more than
100,000 times in an hour.
In the past, Swift
– the fifth most-followed person on Twitter – was harshly criticised for staying silent about anything political or topical, particularly during the 2016 election. (‘Who did Taylor Swift vote for?’ was a top Google search at the time.)
Then, right before the 2018 midterm elections, she made a stunning turnaround with a long statement in which she revealed she was voting Democrat, and slammed Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., writing, “Her voting record in Congress appalls and terrifies me.”
In January, Swift doubled down on her views (specifically against Trump) in the documentary ‘Miss Americana,’ which explored her past several years in and out of the spotlight, and why she decided to break her silence.
In one emotional scene, Swift explained that she didn’t speak up in 2016 because it was during the worst backlash of her career (after the Kanye West ‘Famous’ incident) and she felt that publicly supporting any politician could backfire. But now, after multiple years of the Trump presidency, she was ready. When her team pointed out that she could lose half her fan base, or headlines might read ‘Taylor Swift comes out against Trump,’ the singer shot back that it didn’t matter.
“I don’t care if they write that!” she exclaimed. “I’m sad that I didn’t two years ago, but I can’t change that. I’m saying right now that this is something that I know is right ... I need to be on the right side of history.”