High Road: Marsha Blackburn Seeks Common Ground with Taylor Swift, Who Called Her ‘Homophobic Racist’

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - NOVEMBER 24: Taylor Swift performs onstage during the 2019 Ameri
Kevin Winter/Getty Images for dcp

Pop star Taylor Swift describes Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) as a “homophobic racist” and “Trump in a whig” in her newly released Netflix documentary Miss Americana. But Blackburn, perhaps anticipating the attacks, took the high ground this week and issued a statement in which she offers to work with the Grammy-winning singer.

“Taylor is an exceptionally gifted artist and songwriter, and Nashville is fortunate to be the center of her creative universe,” said Blackburn’s statement. “While there are policy issues on which we may always disagree, we do agree on the need to throw the entertainment community’s collective influence behind legislation protecting songwriters, musicians, and artists from censorship, copyright theft, and profiteering. The Music Modernization Act was a huge win for creators, and the BOTS Act for fans. Growing support behind the AM-FM Act will close loopholes blocking compensation for radio play.”

“I welcome any further opportunities to work with Tennessee’s and the nation’s creative communities to protect intellectual property and ensure appropriate compensation for their creations,” Blackburn’s letter reads. “On that note, I wish Taylor the best — she’s earned it.”

Miss Americana sees Swift struggling with superstardom, explaining her regret for not being vocal politically during the 2016 election cycle, and her decision to endorse Sen. Blackburn’s opponent during the 2018 midterm elections.

“If I get bad press for saying I don’t want to put a homophobic racist in office, then I get bad press for that,” Swift is seen saying in a contentious meeting with her managers and parents. “I think that it is so spineless for me to stand on stage and say ‘happy Pride Month you guys’ when someone is literally coming for their necks.”

A tearful tirade ensues:

“She votes against the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, which is just basically protecting us from domestic abuse and stalking. Stalking. She thinks that if you’re a gay couple, or even if you look like a gay couple, you should be allowed to be kicked out of a restaurant. It’s really basic human rights, and it’s right and wrong at this point, and I can’t see another commercial and see her disguising these policies behind the words ‘Tennessee Christian values.’ Those aren’t Tennessee Christian values. I live in Tennessee. I am Christian. That’s not what we stand for.”

Taylor Swift broke her years-long political silence in 2018 and endorsed Tennessee Democrats Phil Bredesen, a Senate candidate, and Rep. Jim Cooper in the midterm elections. Swift shared a longwinded Instagram message, a month before voters cast their ballots, and smeared Blackburn, saying “Her voting record in Congress appalls and terrifies me.”

View this post on Instagram

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

Sen. Blackburn easily defeated former Gov. Phil Bredesen, despite Swift’s high-profile endorsement.

Still, the ME” singer has promised that she will continue to use her 100 million-plus social media following and her massive platform to defeat Republicans and President Donald Trump in November.

“I think a lot of people are like me, where they just didn’t really know that this could happen. But I’m just focused on the 2020 election,” Swift told the Rolling Stone in a recent interview. “I’m really focused on it. I’m really focused on how I can help and not hinder. Because I also don’t want it to backfire again, because I do feel that the celebrity involvement with Hillary’s campaign was used against her in a lot of ways.”

Jerome Hudson is Breitbart News Entertainment Editor and author of the bestselling book 50 Things They Don’t Want You to Know. Order your copy today. Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter and Instagram @jeromeehudson

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.