Pop star Taylor Swift has finally voiced a political opinion and endorsed two Democrats running in Tennessee’s midterms, one of whom came out in support of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh over sexual assault allegations.
Swift took to Instagram to explain that she could not support the Republican Senate candidate Marsha Blackburn because of her record of voting against women and the LGBT community.
Swift instead endorsed former Governor Phil Bredesen, who recently angered Democratic voters when he said he would have supported Brett Kavanaugh for the Supreme Court because the sexual assault allegations levied against him lacked sufficient evidence.
Swift explained Blackburn’s voting record “appalls and terrifies” her. “She voted against equal pay for women. She voted against the Reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, which attempts to protect women from domestic violence, stalking, and date rape,” Swift wrote.
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“She believes businesses have a 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 added. The pop star also endorsed Democrat Jim Cooper for the House of Representatives.
Swift’s political awakening was largely celebrated on social media, with Democrats welcoming her to the ‘resistance’ and expressing glee that it appears she is not the Trump supporter many suspected.
However many social media users accused her of being a hypocrite for rejecting Blackman over her stance on women’s issues and at the same time supporting one of the only Democrats to speak out in support for Kavanaugh as he faced allegations of sexually assaulting Dr Christine Blasey Ford in the 1980s. Others were amused that she urged her fans to educate themselves on candidates, but appeared to have missed an aspect of Bredesen’s recent past herself.
Swift is notoriously tight-lipped when it comes to political issues. The singer didn’t come out in support of a candidate during the 2016 presidential election, but explained Sunday that “due to several events in my life and in the world in the past two years, I feel very differently about that now.”
The singer said she always votes for the candidate who will “protect and fight for the human rights I believe we all deserve in this country.” She went on to call out discrimination against LGBT people and systemic racism.
“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 said, going on to urge her 112 million followers to educate themselves and “vote based on who most closely represents your values.”
“For a lot of us, we may never find a candidate or party with whom we agree 100% on every issue, but we have to vote anyway,” she added.
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