National

Kanye vs Taylor 2.0? People joke as Swift endorses Democrats and West supports Trump

By Josh Magness
FILE - In this Sept. 13, 2009 file photo, singer Kanye West takes the microphone from singer Taylor Swift as she accepts the “Best Female Video” award during the MTV Video Music Awards in New York.
FILE - In this Sept. 13, 2009 file photo, singer Kanye West takes the microphone from singer Taylor Swift as she accepts the “Best Female Video” award during the MTV Video Music Awards in New York. Jason DeCrow AP

On Sunday night, Taylor Swift broke her silence on politics and endorsed Tennessee Democrats in an Instagram post.

In the post, which has since garnered over 1 million likes, Swift wrote that she will only endorse candidates who support LGBTQ rights, women rights and racial equality.

She wrote that Rep. Marsha Blackburn, a Republican who is running for U.S. Senate, has a voting record that “appalls and terrifies me” — and then threw her support behind Phil Bredesen, a former Democratic governor in the state. She also endorsed Democrat Jim Cooper for the U.S. House of Representatives.

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I’m writing this post about the upcoming midterm elections on November 6th, in which I’ll be voting in the state of Tennessee. 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. 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. 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. Running for Senate in the state of Tennessee is a woman named Marsha Blackburn. As much as I have in the past and would like to continue voting for women in office, I cannot support Marsha Blackburn. Her voting record in Congress 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. These are not MY Tennessee values. I will be voting for Phil Bredesen for Senate and Jim Cooper for House of Representatives. Please, please educate yourself on the candidates running in your state 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. So many intelligent, thoughtful, self-possessed people have turned 18 in the past two years and now have the right and privilege to make their vote count. But first you need to register, which is quick and easy to do. October 9th is the LAST DAY to register to vote in the state of TN. Go to vote.org and you can find all the info. Happy Voting!

A post shared by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift) on

While Swift is supporting Democrats, Kanye West — who once said “George Bush doesn’t care about black people” on live TV — took the “Saturday Night Live” stage to praise President Donald Trump while wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat.

Is this the start of a “proxy war,” some asked? Kanye infamously interrupted Taylor Swift’s speech at the 2009 VMAs as she accepted an award for Best Female Video — and took the microphone to say “Yo Taylor, I’m really happy for you, I’ll let you finish, but Beyoncé has one of the best videos of all time. One of the best videos of all time!”

More recently, West referenced Swift in his 2016 song “Famous,” with lyrics that said “I feel like Taylor Swift still owe me sex / Why? I made that b---- famous.”

West said he had Swift’s permission to use her name in the song, Swift denied it. West’s wife Kim Kardashian released a recording of a call between West and Swift that showed she knew of the lyric before the song was released. People theorized that supporting Democrats could be a way for Swift to take a dig at him.

Others on Twitter said they couldn’t believe that Taylor is supporting racial equality while West recently wrote that he would like to see the 13th Amendment abolished, before later saying that he just wanted to see it changed. That Amendment made slavery illegal in the U.S., and West’s comment came months after he drew fire for implying that slavery was a choice.

While some, like Charlie Kirk, founder of the conservative organization Turning Point USA, took West’s side.

And Fox News contributor Tomi Lahren said she just didn’t care — “period.”

But some couldn’t help but joke about ulterior motives in Swift’s high-profile announcement.

This story was originally published October 8, 2018 at 9:32 AM.

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