Taylor Swift strays from her years-long political silence to slam 'autocrat' Trump and say Americans are being 'gaslighted' as she reveals she is 'obviously pro-choice' and says she felt 'useless' for not sharing her beliefs in the 2016 election
- Swift made the remarks in an interview published on Friday to coincide with the release of her new album, Lover
- She abstained from the political discussion in 2016 but says now it was to 'protect her mental health'
- At the time, her mother had been diagnosed with cancer and she was in the midst of a nasty public spat with Kim Kardashian and Kanye West
- She now says she feels 'useless' for staying quiet about her thoughts and will do 'everything I can for 2020'
- Swift said Americans are 'gaslighted' into thinking they are unpatriotic if they do not support Trump
- She also says she was appalled by Tennessee's decision to impose a near-total ban on abortion
- Swift revealed earlier this month that she would have endorsed Hillary Clinton
- She said she did not speak out because she did not think she could help
Taylor Swift has strayed from her long-held policy of not talking politics by slamming President Trump as an 'autocrat', claiming Americans are being 'gaslighted' into thinking they are unpatriotic if they do not support him and saying she is 'obviously' pro-choice.
The singer, who is promoting her newest album Lover, also said she would do 'everything' she could for '2020' in reference to the looming president election.
She made the comments in an interview with The Guardian which was published on Friday, a day after releasing her album to resounding praise.
'We're a democracy – at least, we're supposed to be – where you're allowed to disagree, dissent, debate. I really think that he thinks this is an autocracy.'
She went on to say of his 2016 election victory: 'All the dirtiest tricks in the book were used and it worked,' adding that the atmosphere in America is 'gaslighting the American public into being like, 'If you hate the president, you hate America.''
Swift was famously quiet about the 2016 election at the time and was heavily criticized for it by other celebrities.
Taylor Swift took a swipe at Donald Trump in an interview published Friday where she said he thought of the country as an 'autocracy' and made other rare, political comments
She has rarely commented on her political views in the past and last year, came under fire for endorsing Democratic candidates in her home state of Tennessee.
Some said she had signed the end of her career by sharing her beliefs after years of staying neutral, especially when many of her fans are conservative.
But in the interview published on Friday, she said she regretted not speaking up sooner about her beliefs and that she only held her tongue to 'protect' her 'mental health'.
She said she felt 'useless' about not speaking out about the 2016 election but said she could not handle the controversy of sharing them after a turbulent year in the headlines which involved a nasty public spat with Kim Kardashian and Kanye West.
She was also struggling to cope with her mother's cancer diagnosis, she said.
'I was just trying to protect my mental health – not read the news very much, go cast my vote, tell people to vote.
'I just knew what I could handle and I knew what I couldn't. I was literally about to break,' she said.
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Swift performs on ABC's 'Good Morning America' Thursday. She has rarely commented on her political views in the past and last year, came under fire for endorsing Democratic candidates in her home state of Tennessee
She previously told Vogue that she would have endorsed Hillary Clinton but that she knew her speaking out 'wouldn't help' because Trump was 'weaponizing celebrity endorsements' and her own credibility had taken a hit.
Now, she says she is 'really remorseful for not saying anything' about her views.
Trump was not the only political issue she weighed in on, saying she was 'obviously pro-choice' and was appalled by Tennessee's decision to pass a near total-ban on abortion.
'I just can't believe this is happening,' she said, pledging to do 'everything I can for 2020'.
The publication of the interview also comes a day after her father was forced to delete his Facebook page after coming under fire for sharing what fans described were right-wing memes.
Her new album takes on social and political issues such as homophobia and the #MeToo movement.
'American stories burning before me, I'm feeling helpless, the damsels are depressed / Boys will be boys then, where are the wise men? Darling, I'm scared,' is one of the lyrics in one of the songs.
Swift's bombastic return to the public eye this week to promote her new album comes on the heels of a scandal surrounding her dealings with Big Machine Label Group, the label which signed her when she was 15 and acquired the rights to her music.
When mega agent Scooter Braun bought Big Machine, he inherited Swift's first six albums. Because she had a personal gripe with him, claiming he bullied her with clients Justin Bieber and Kanye West, she said she was 'grossed out' by the fact that he now owned her music.
She was criticized by Braun and other artists who said she painted an unkind and inaccurate image of him.
They also said it was unfair of her to complain publicly about a deal she had signed and understood years earlier.
Now, she says she will re-record albums one through six so that she owns a version of them too. The artist has signed a new record deal with Universal which means she owns all of her own music going forward.
