Taylor Swift, a mega-celebrity once known for being politics-averse, was blunt in a scathing criticism of President Donald Trump on Friday. She slammed the commander-in-chief's response to the protests over Minneapolis police killing George Floyd, a black man.
"After stoking the fires of white supremacy and racism your entire presidency, you have the nerve to feign moral superiority before threatening violence?" Swift wrote on Twitter. "‘When the looting starts the shooting starts’??? We will vote you out in November. @realdonaldtrump."
Swift was referencing a tweet from Trump that encouraged violence against protesters in Minneapolis — a post that was ultimately hidden by Twitter for "glorifying violence."
"These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen," the president wrote about people protesting a police killing of a black man. "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!"
Taylor SwiftI’m writing this post about the upcoming midterm elections on November 6th, in which I’ll be voting in the state of Tennessee. In the past I’ve been reluctant to publicly voice my political opinions, but due to several events in my life and in the world in the past two years, I feel very differently about that now. I always have and always will cast my vote based on which candidate will protect and fight for the human rights I believe we all deserve in this country. I believe in the fight for LGBTQ rights, and that any form of discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender is WRONG. I believe that the systemic racism we still see in this country towards people of color is terrifying, sickening and prevalent. I cannot vote for someone who will not be willing to fight for dignity for ALL Americans, no matter their skin color, gender or who they love. Running for Senate in the state of Tennessee is a woman named Marsha Blackburn. As much as I have in the past and would like to continue voting for women in office, I cannot support Marsha Blackburn. Her voting record in Congress appalls and terrifies me. She voted against equal pay for women. She voted against the Reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, which attempts to protect women from domestic violence, stalking, and date rape. She believes businesses have a right to refuse service to gay couples. She also believes they should not have the right to marry. These are not MY Tennessee values. I will be voting for Phil Bredesen for Senate and Jim Cooper for House of Representatives. Please, please educate yourself on the candidates running in your state and vote based on who most closely represents your values. For a lot of us, we may never find a candidate or party with whom we agree 100% on every issue, but we have to vote anyway. So many intelligent, thoughtful, self-possessed people have turned 18 in the past two years and now have the right and privilege to make their vote count. But first you need to register, which is quick and easy to do. October 9th is the LAST DAY to register to vote in the state of TN. Go to vote.org and you can find all the info. Happy Voting! 🗳😃🌈
Protests in Minneapolis have grown in intensity over the past few days. People have looted stores and set the police department's 3rd Precinct aflame. The protests began in response to the killing of Floyd — which was caught on tape — in which an officer knelt on the handcuffed man's neck for several minutes.
Swift was once hesitant to speak out about politics but has been much more vocal in recent years — a choice covered in depth in the Netflix documentary Miss Americana. The pop star campaigned hard for a Tennessee Democrats in the 2018 midterms, something Trump didn't love. Her tweet on Friday swiftly became her most liked tweet of all time, according to Twitter, amassing 1 million likes in less than 5 hours.
“Let’s say that I like Taylor’s music about 25 percent less now, OK?” Trump said at the time.
The president has not yet responded to her comments on Friday.
UPDATE: May 29, 2020, 4:54 p.m. CDT This post has been updated to include Swift's tweet becoming her most liked of all time.
