Taylor Swift showed how powerful her voice can be when she waded into American politics late Sunday.
The pop star took to Instagram – where she has 112 million followers – to share her views on the midterm race between Democrat Phil Bredesen and Republican Marsha Blackburn in Swift’s home state of Tennessee.
“In the past I’ve been reluctant to publicly voice my political opinions,” Swift admitted in an Instagram post, “but due to several events in my life and in the world in the past two years, I feel very differently about that now.
“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. 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.”
Swift said despite supporting women who are running for public office, she can’t bring herself to cast a ballot for Blackburn because her voting record “appalls and terrifies me.”
The singer declared she will vote for Bredesen for Senate and fellow Democrat Jim Cooper for Congress.
Swift also urged her U.S. fans to educate themselves on their candidates “and vote based on who most closely represents your values.”
Her message came just one day ahead of the deadline to register to vote in Tennessee – and reaction was, well, swift.
“Let’s say that I like Taylor’s music about 25 per cent less now, OK?,” U.S. president Donald Trump told reporters, after saying Swift “doesn’t know anything” about Blackburn.
Republican former governor Mike Huckabee tweeted that Swift’s endorsements “won’t impact election unless we allow 13 yr old girls to vote.”
Religious blowhard Charlie Kirk tweeted at Swift: “You have absolutely no idea what you are talking about Your career has never recovered since Kanye ended it.”
Haters gonna hate, hate, hate.
In fact, many people on social media saw Swift’s political statement as the moment she took the mic back from Kanye West.
“Someone should probably start a support group for those of us who originally picked the wrong side of the Kanye/Taylor Swift debate,” tweeted writer Kashana Cauley.
Kara R. Brown tweeted: “If you had told me two years ago Kanye would be running around in a MAGA hat while Taylor Swift was endorsing democratic candidates, I would have smacked you to the ground and stolen your wallet for wasting my time.”
And, Roxane Gay shared: “So... Kanye is MAGA and Taylor Swift is endorsing Democrats in TN. This screening of Interstellar 2 is fascinating. Buy a lottery ticket. Anything is possible in this timeline.”
Swift got support on Twitter from stars like Debra Messing and Alyssa Milano. YouTube celebrity Tyler Oakley said he was “grateful” that Swift spoke up. “Hope this is just the beginning,” he tweeted.
“Sending you so much love and respect,” Ellen DeGeneres tweeted at the singer.
According to reports, there was a spike in voter registration in Tennessee on Monday.