President Trump on Monday responded to Taylor Swift’s recent endorsement of two Democrats running in her home state of Tennessee, saying he liked Swift’s music “about 25 percent less now.”
Less than 24 hours after Swift made a rare political statement to denounce Tennessee Republican Senate candidate Marsha Blackburn, Trump told reporters that the U.S. representative is a “tremendous woman” and that Swift “doesn’t know anything about her.”
“Marsha Blackburn is doing a very good job now in Tennessee,” the president told reporters at the White House on Monday. “She’s leading now substantially, which she should. She’s a tremendous woman. I’m sure Taylor Swift doesn’t know anything about her. Let’s say I like Taylor’s music about 25 percent less now, OK?”
In a lengthy Instagram message on Sunday, the country-pop star known for her longstanding practice of avoiding political stands said that events in her own life and globally encouraged her to speak out in support of Democratic candidates.
“I believe in the fight for LGBTQ rights, and that any form of discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender is WRONG,” she wrote. “I believe that the systemic racism we still see in this country towards people of color is terrifying, sickening and prevalent.”
Swift said that although she would like to continue supporting female politicians, she cannot support the re-election of Republican U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn. She said Blackburn’s voting record “appalls and terrifies” her.
“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,” Swift wrote.
Instead, Swift said she will vote for Democrats Phil Bredesen for Senate and Jim Cooper for the House of Representatives.
“Please, please educate yourself on the candidates running in your state and vote based on who most closely represents your values,” she wrote. “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.”
Swift’s political opinions have frequently come into question, and though she has not encouraged them, white nationalists have embraced her. Last year, Broadly published an article titled “Can’t Shake It Off: How Taylor Swift Became a Nazi Idol.”
And a Complex story asked, “Why Do People Keep Connecting Taylor Swift’s New Song to the Alt-Right?”
Donald Trump's Biggest Feuds, Fights and Foes: From Rosie O' Donnell to Univision (Photos)
Donald Trump doesn't seem to be afraid to make enemies. His blustery threats and relentless dealmaking have caused him to run afoul of politicians, celebrities, models and more. Here are just a few of the people Trump has locked horns with over the years.
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In 1973, the U.S. Justice Department sued Trump's real-estate company, accusing it of refusing to rent apartments in New York and Virginia to African-Americans. Trump countersued the DOJ for defamation, seeking $100 million in damages. Trump settled the case.
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Arguably no celebrity has been a bigger target for Trump than Rosie O' Donnell. Their feud began back in 2006, when O'Donnell called Trump a "snake-oil salesman on 'Little House On the Prairie'" on "The View." Trump said he would "look forward to taking lots of money from my nice fat little Rosie."
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In the '80s, Trump was a popular target of the satirical publication Spy Magazine. After the magazine called him a "short-fingered vulgarian" in 1988, Trump predicted the magazine's demise and said that his fingers "are long and beautiful, as, it has been well documented, are various other parts of my body.”
Univision dropped Trump's Miss USA pageant from its programming after his comments about Mexican immigrants at the start of his presidential campaign. Trump responded by suing the network for $500 million. The lawsuit was settled in February.
Trump ejected Univision's main news anchor, Jorge Ramos, from a news conference during his campaign. Ramos had attempted to ask Trump about his immigration policies. "Go back to Univision," Trump said.
Former Miss USA contestant Sheena Monnin accused the pageant, which Trump owns, of being rigged. Trump responded by filing and winning a $5 million defamation lawsuit against Monnin. She later said her situation with Trump "has been resolved" and that no money was paid out of my pocket."
Trump repeatedly attacked Sen. Ted Cruz during the Republican Primary. The most infamous attack came on March 22, when he threatened to "spill the beans" on Cruz's wife on Twitter after a Super PAC affiliated with Cruz posted a picture of Trump's wife, Melania, from a nude GQ photo shoot. Cruz endorsed Trump last week.
In 1993, Trump's Atlantic City casino was falling behind the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut, which is owned by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation. Trump's reaction? While testifying before a Congressional subcommittee, he claimed that "it’s obvious that organized crime is rampant on the Indian reservations" and that the Pequot "don't look like Indians to me."
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In 2011, Trump repeatedly demanded President Barack Obama's birth certificate, claiming he wasn't born in the United States. After Obama released the birth certificate, he belittled Trump during the White House Correspondents Dinner.
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In an interview with "Today," Cole Bolton, editor-in-chief of The Onion, revealed the humor site received a letter from Trump's lawyer over a satirical op-ed supposedly from Trump entitled, "When You're Feeling Low, Just Remember I'll Be Dead In 15 or 20 Years."
Trump also attempted to sue Bill Maher when the comedian joked on "Real Time" that if Trump could provide proof that his biological father is not an orangutan, he would donate $5 million to the charity of Trump's choice. Trump took him up on that offer, and then sued to try to get Maher to pay the money. The lawsuit was later withdrawn.
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The success of "The Apprentice" inspired NBC to make a spinoff starring Martha Stewart. But Trump wrote an open letter blasting Stewart for the show failing to take off. "I knew it would fail as soon as I first saw it -- and your low ratings bore me out," he wrote.
In a May 15 front page New York Times article, former Miss Universe Alicia Machado accused Trump of using her weight problems as a media opportunity shortly after she won the Miss Universe pageant. "He's always been white trash, a racist, a horrible person," she said.
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Sen. Elizabeth Warren tweeted that Trump sounded like a "two-bit dictator" and a "pathetic coward who can't stand that he's losing to a girl." Trump has responded by calling Warren "Pocahontas," referring to Warren's contested claim in 2012 that she had Native American ancestry.
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Perhaps Trump's most famous confrontation this year was with Khizr and Ghazala Khan, whose son was killed in the Iraq War. Khzir Khan declared that Trump "sacrificed nothing and no one," to which Trump suggested that Khan's wife did not speak at the convention because she "wasn't allowed to."
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The GOP candidate was making enemies long before 2016
Donald Trump doesn't seem to be afraid to make enemies. His blustery threats and relentless dealmaking have caused him to run afoul of politicians, celebrities, models and more. Here are just a few of the people Trump has locked horns with over the years.
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