Taylor Swift Has Explained Why She Stayed Silent During The 2016 US Presidential Election

 

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A post shared by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift) on May 26, 2019 at 5:29am PDT

Taylor Swift has opened up about why she stayed quiet during the 2016 US presidential elections.

Throughout the race between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, many high profile celebs came out in support of Hillary. Beyonce, Kim and Kanye and Lady Gaga were some of the most vocal and memorable.

But before you assume that Taylor was just uninterested or disingenuous, there was a very conscious reason behind her silence.

“Unfortunately in the 2016 election you had a political opponent who was weaponizing the idea of the celebrity endorsement,” she implied of Trump.

“He was going around saying, I’m a man of the people. I’m for you. I care about you. I just knew I wasn’t going to help.”

Taylor felt that some of the negative comments and insults being associated with Hillary were also things that were being said about her.

“Also, you know, the summer before that election, all people were saying was She’s calculated. She’s manipulative. She’s not what she seems. She’s a snake. She’s a liar. These are the same exact insults people were hurling at Hillary,” she told Vogue.

 

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A post shared by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift) on Aug 8, 2019 at 8:02am PDT

She feared that an endorsement from her for Hillary would do more damage than good.

“Would I be an endorsement or would I be a liability? Look, snakes of a feather flock together. Look, the two lying women. The two nasty women. Literally millions of people were telling me to disappear.

So I disappeared. In many senses.”

A month before the midterm elections which would determine which candidate would become president Taylor posted about the importance of voting but she did not name a candidate.

However, she listed the issues that were important to her, many of which were in line with Hillary’s campaign.

“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,” she said on Instagrm.

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.”

 

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A post shared by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift) on Oct 7, 2018 at 4:33pm PDT

You can read Taylor’s Vogue interview in the September issue.

• Taylor Swift