Taylor Swift shocked everyone today (October 7, 2018) when she came out of her political shell and endorsed Tennessee Democrats Phil Bredesen, and Jim Cooper, the former who is running for Senate and the latter for a seat in the House of Representatives.
The news made headlines because Swift is known for keeping her political opinions to herself. In the post, she wrote at length about why she was choosing to speak out. Swift wrote, “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.”
She then went on to list the reasons why current Tennessee senator Marsha Blackburn is unsuitable with a list that included her vote against equal pay for women and her vote against the re-authorization of the Violence Against Women Act.
While Swift’s endorsement of Bredesen and Cooper is much louder than anything she’s ever done prior, she is thought to have shown silent support of Hillary Clinton in 2016 with an Instagram image in which she wore a shoulder-bearing sweater, alleged to be a nod to Clinton, while standing in line to vote.
And perhaps it’s just a coincidence, but the timing of the announcement seems to square nicely with her old nemesis Kanye West’s very loud support (once again) during his recent “Saturday Night Live” performance.
Check out Swift’s post below.
