Taylor Swift Denounces White Supremacy: 'It's Repulsive — There Should Be No Place for It'
Taylor Swift has spoken out against white supremacy.
In a comprehensive new interview with Rolling Stone, the pop star opened up about her political leanings more than she ever has.
During the sit-down, the reporter asked Swift about the time, in 2016, when a white supremacy group inferred that the singer-songwriter was a part of the alt-right movement. Swift responded, saying she had taken a break from the internet at the time but that she was horrified at the thought.
“I didn’t even see that, but, like, if that happened, that’s just disgusting,” she told Rolling Stone. “There’s literally nothing worse than white supremacy. It’s repulsive. There should be no place for it.”
Swift, 29, went on to talk about her recent political awakening, which was spurred by the 2016 presidential election, and said it “was jarring” to learn that people didn’t know she considers herself a progressive Democrat.
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“Really, I keep trying to learn as much as I can about politics, and it’s become something I’m now obsessed with, whereas before, I was living in this sort of political ambivalence, because the person I voted for had always won,” Swift said. “We were in such an amazing time when Obama was president because foreign nations respected us. We were so excited to have this dignified person in the White House. My first election was voting for him when he made it into office, and then voting to re-elect him. I think a lot of people are like me, where they just didn’t really know that this could happen.”
The star added that while she regrets not speaking out about her political leanings earlier, she hopes to make a change in future races.
“I’m just focused on the 2020 election. I’m really focused on it. I’m really focused on how I can help and not hinder. Because I also don’t want it to backfire again, because I do feel that the celebrity involvement with Hillary’s campaign was used against her in a lot of ways,” Swift said.
Until recently, the Grammy-winning artist had remained mum on anything political.
But last year, Swift finally broke her silence to criticize incumbent Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn and support Democratic candidate Phil Bredesen. Ever since, Swift has become increasingly outspoken on progressive topics, including women’s rights, LGBTQ rights and social justice issues.
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Now, Swift’s record-breaking seventh album, Lover, is her most political yet. Her music video for hit single "You Need to Calm Down" supports the Equality Act for LGBTQ rights. And the gloomy standout "Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince" addresses political turmoil through a high school metaphor.
“I was thinking about a traditional American high school, where there’s all these kinds of social events that could make someone feel completely alienated,” she said of “Miss Americana.” “And I think a lot of people in our political landscape are just feeling like we need to huddle up under the bleachers and figure out a plan to make things better … It’s about the illusions of what I thought America was before our political landscape took this turn, and that naïveté that we used to have about it.”
