The internet was shocked when Taylor Swift shared a political post on her Instagram on October 7th, 2018 stating her stance on certain issues, a move the world never dared to hope for. She voiced how she felt certain candidates did not advocate for issues that mattered most to her and much of the United States.
She is voting in the state of Tennessee and has expressed she wants women in office, but not those that “will not be willing to fight for dignity for ALL Americans, no matter their skin color, gender or who they love,” as Swift stated in the aforementioned Instagram post. Swift goes on to say she cannot support the Tennessee Senate candidate Marsha Blackburn because of her track record in regards to voting.
Swift states, “Her voting record in Congress appalls and terrifies me. She voted against equal pay for women. She voted against the Reauthorization for the Violence Against Women Act, which attempts to protect women against domestic violence, stalking, and date rape. She believes businesses have the right to refuse service to gay couples. She also believes they should not have the right to marry. These are not MY Tennessee values.” She goes on to state she will be supporting Phil Bredesen for Senate and Jim Cooper for the House of Representatives. She also urges people to register to vote in the upcoming election.
Swift has previously been noticeably silent on the topic of political issues, but expressed in the instagram post that she cannot keep her silence any longer. While the comments section was disabled, it did not stop the world from responding across all social media; she even garnered the attention of President Donald Trump who has praised Swift in the past.
Trump stated, “Marsha is doing a very good job in Tennessee. She’s leading now substantially, which she should. She’s a tremendous woman. I’m sure Taylor Swift doesn’t know anything about her.” Trump is dead wrong with that last statement, however, since Swift detailed all of the reasons she could not support Blackburn for Tennessee Senate.
Swift’s influence in that one instagram post to her millions of followers did trigger a response within the registration of voters. Vote.org reported that “nearly 65,000 Americans ages 18 to 29 registered to vote in the roughly 24 hours after the singer-songwriter’s social media rallying cry. By noon on Tuesday, that number grew to over 102,000.” President Donald Trump clearly seems to be underestimating the influence the singer has as more and more people are registering to vote in the midterm election.
The deadline to register to vote may have been October 9, but the whole nation will be watching to see what happens next in this election.
Sources
www.teenvogue.com/story/president-donald-trump-likes-taylor-swift-music-less