NEW YORK: Singer Taylor Swift has called out President Donald Trump after he threatened a harsh crackdown on protesters in Minneapolis against the death of an unarmed black man.
After the president sent a tweet that Twitter itself flagged as inciting violence, the singer issued a response and called out his comments.
“After stoking the fires of white supremacy and racism your entire presidency, you have the nerve to feign moral superiority before threatening violence?” she tweeted..
Swift added a direct quote of the president’s inflammatory tweet that threatened violence towards protestors who have been calling for the arrest of the officer who kneeled on an unarmed, handcuffed black man named George Floyd’s neck until he was unresponsive and later died.
The Grammy winner ended her message by promising, “We will vote you out in November,” mentioning Trump in the tweet.
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’??? We will vote you out in November. @realdonaldtrump
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) May 29, 2020
Since the 2018 midterm elections, Swift has been making a pointed effort to speak out on political issues. During the 2016 election, the singer was called out for not endorsing a presidential candidate and not publicly denouncing the white supremacist support she was receiving.
Swift clarified about her hesitation to speak out in her 2020 documentary Miss Americana, noting that she followed her team’s advice and kept quiet due to the public backlash she received following her feud with Kim Kardashian West and so she wouldn’t risk losing fans.
Protests erupted this week in response to the death of George Floyd. Some protesters in Minneapolis turned to looting and Trump threatened severe consequences if they continued.
“These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen,” he wrote on Twitter. “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!”
Twitter flagged the tweet shortly after as a violation of its rules about glorifying violence. Despite the warning, Twitter said it kept the post “in the public’s interest” but blocked users from responding to it.
Earlier this month, Swift also commented on Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old black man who was fatally shot by in February by a white son and father in Georgia.
“I’m absolutely devastated and horrified by the senseless, cold blooded, racially motivated killing of Ahmaud Arbery,” she tweeted.
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