Pop star Swift breaks political silence, backs Democrats

NASHVILLE — Music superstar Taylor Swift has announced she’s voting for Tennessee’s Democratic Senate candidate Phil Bredesen, breaking her long-standing refusal to discuss anything politics.

“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,” Swift wrote in an Instagram post on Sunday.

Swift has faced criticism for not speaking about political issues despite having a global platform. Yet in 2017, she appeared on the cover of Time magazine as one of the “silence breakers” for her countersuit against a radio DJ who was fired after allegedly groping her before a concert. Swift won the lawsuit in a verdict that awarded her $1, which according to the suit served as “an example to other women who may resist publicly reliving similar outrageous and humiliating acts.”

The pop star — who grew up in later years in Tennessee — also slammed Republican candidate and U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn in her lengthy post on Sunday, citing Blackburn’s opposition to certain LGBTQ rights and voting against the Reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act in 2013.

“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,” Swift wrote.

Blackburn’s campaign did not immediately return a request for comment.