Taylor Swift deviated from her famous political neutrality Sunday, announcing her endorsement of two Democrats running in her home state of Tennessee.
The pop star said in a lengthy Instagram post that she plans to vote for Democrat Phil Bredesen, who hopes to win the seat being vacated by Republican senator Bob Corker, and Representative Jim Cooper, who is seeking reelection.
“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,” she wrote in the post. “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.”
Elsewhere in the post, Swift decried the country’s “systemic racism,” calling it “terrifying, sickening and prevalent,” said she supports LGBTQ rights, and singled out Blackburn for criticism, saying her voting record “appalls and terrifies me.”
“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. She believes businesses have a right to refuse service to gay couples. She also believes they should not have the right to marry,” Swift wrote. “These are not MY Tennessee values.”
In recent years, Swift has come under increasing pressure from the media and some fans to use her stardom to influence politics. The Guardian called Swift out last year for her silence, saying she was “not simply a product of the age of Trump, but a musical envoy for the president’s values.”
The National Republican Senatorial Committee responded swiftly to Swift’s post Sunday with a press release suggesting the singer has lost touch with everyday Tennesseans.
“Multimillionaire pop star Taylor Swift came down from her ivory tower to tell hardworking Tennesseans to vote for Phil Bredesen,” the NRSC wrote, before ticking off a list of arguments against Bredesen.