Taylor Swift calls out Donald Trump for stoking white supremacy, promises to vote him out
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."
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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."
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"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!"
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.
Topics Activism Donald Trump Celebrities
Tim Marcin is an Associate Editor on the culture team at Mashable, where he mostly digs into the weird parts of the internet. You'll also see some coverage of memes, tech, sports, trends, and the occasional hot take. You can find him on Bluesky (sometimes), Instagram (infrequently), or eating Buffalo wings (as often as possible).
