Taylor Swift joins the growing number of celebrities urging people to vote. The singer-songwriter encouraged her fans to vote for people who would "fight against police brutality and racism of any kind" in a tweet yesterday, June 9.
The country-pop superstar wrote to her 86.4 million Twitter followers: "Racial injustice has been ingrained deeply into local and state governments," stressing that changes must be made.
Her Twitter thread was followed by a link to Barack Obama's recent essay. The piece relates the recent "killing of George Floyd and the ongoing problem of unequal justice" as the moment that has to be the turning point for real change.
"If we want our criminal justice system, and American society at large, to operate on a higher ethical code, then we have to model that code ourselves," the former US president urged.
The last of Taylor Swift's thread pushed: "We need to fight for mail-in voting for the 2020 election." Swift further stressed that no one should choose between health and voting. It included a link to Vote.org, an American nonprofit focused on providing access to absentee voting information.
Look What You Made Taylor Do
Taylor Swift recently called for the people to register and vote after the death of George Floyd. The 46-year-old African-American man died after former Minneapolis policeman Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck as Floyd lay pinned on the ground. His death sparked a series of protests, first starting in the Twin Cities and later spreading across the country and the world.
The city of Minneapolis recently stated that they are looking at around $55M in building damages and looting during the George Floyd protests. It prompted US President Donald Trump to weigh in on the issue via Twitter. In a now-hidden post, Trump wrote: "These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won't let that happen." He then confirmed that he spoke with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. Trump assured the governor of the military's support. Lastly, in the flagged tweet, Trump suggested the use of violence, adding: "when the looting starts, the shooting starts."
RELATED: Growing Response to George Floyd's Death: Taylor Swift, Eminem, T.I., Bon Iver
The "Red" singer responded, "After stoking the fires of white supremacy and racism your entire presidency, you have the nerve to feign moral superiority before threatening violence?" It has become the most popular Taylor Swift tweet to date. As of this writing, the tweet has over 100K comments, close to half a million retweets, and two million likes on the platform.
"Hold Your Vote Hostage"
As nine states in the US have started with the congressional primary elections, celebrities have urged people to register and vote to enact real change in the middle of Black Out Tuesday last week.
Ice Cube shared an announcement for people to vote for the Presidential Primaries. The rapper-actor wrote on IG that his call to "Hold Your Vote Hostage" meant that voters should get something before pledging their votes. He clarified that he votes and that his fans should too.
Ariana Grande reminded people on Twitter: "Nine states have primary elections on June 2." She then reminded the residents of those states to vote out "the corrupt officials (not just the president)" that encourage discrimination and systematic racism.
Snoop Dogg recently revealed that he would be voting for the first time, reasoning that he "can't stand this punk in office one more year," referring to President Trump. Snoop called in the radio show "Big Boy's Neighborhood," and shared his story. The rapper explained that he wasn't able to vote all these years because he was told that people with criminal records can't vote.
