American singer Taylor Swift has accused US President Donald Trump of stoking fires of white supremacy and racism. In a Friday post on twitter, the 30-year-old singer slammed Trump for what she called his “nerve to feign moral superiority before threatening violence.”
“We will vote you out in November @realdonaldtrump,” she added.
After stoking the fires of white supremacy and racism your entire presidency, you have the nerve to feign moral superiority before threatening violence? ‘When the looting starts the shooting starts’??? We will vote you out in November. @realdonaldtrump
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) May 29, 2020
Swift’s tweet comes a few hours after US President Donald Trump tweeted on Friday about the protests in Minneapolis, saying that “thugs are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd” and, referencing the military, that “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.” This tweet was however flagged by the social media platform Twitter as “glorifying violence.”
The message marked a distinct return to form for the President, whose initial response to the situation — calling the video “shocking” and demanding justice — was itself markedly different from how he had approached instances of police brutality in the past.
Later Friday, Trump sought to explain his message, writing in a new tweet, “I don’t want this to happen, and that’s what the expression put out last night means.”
“It was spoken as a fact, not as a statement,” he went on. “It’s very simple, nobody should have any problem with this other than the haters, and those looking to cause trouble on social media. Honor the memory of George Floyd!” he said.
As protests in Minneapolis continue and unrest foments in other American cities, the situation poses another test of leadership for a President whose actions on race and policing have more traditionally fallen in the “blue lives matter” camp than the black ones.
Floyd, a 46-year-old black man who died in police custody on Monday after a white Minneapolis police officer responding to a call kept kneeling on his neck has led many other celebrities to speak out against police brutality.
Kylie Jenner posted the following message: “Since watching the most devastating and completely heartbreaking video showing the murder of George Floyd earlier this week I haven’t been able to get his face and his words out of my mind. i’ll never personally experience the pain and fear that many black people around the country go through every day but i know nobody should have to live in fear and nobody deserves a death like George Floyd and too many others.”
Justin Bieber said, “THIS MUST STOP. this makes me absolutely sick. This makes me angry this man DIED. This makes me sad. Racism is evil We need to use our voice! Please people. I’m sorry GEORGE FLOYD.”
