Donald Trump has described Taylor Swift as “unusually beautiful” and questioned whether her political stance is “just an act”.
The twice-impeached former US president spoke about the ‘Tortured Poets’ pop star in an upcoming book titled Apprentice In Wonderland: How Donald Trump And Mark Burnett Took America Through The Looking Glass.
“I think she’s beautiful – very beautiful! I find her very beautiful,” he said in an excerpt shared by Variety.
Trump continued: “I think she’s liberal. She probably doesn’t like Trump. I hear she’s very talented. I think she’s very beautiful, actually – unusually beautiful!”
Commenting on Swift’s political views, he asked: “She is liberal, or is that just an act? She’s legitimately liberal? It’s not an act? It surprises me that a country star can be successful being liberal.”
Trump was also asked about Swift’s music. He replied: “Don’t know it well.”
Swift broke years of political silence in 2018 to back Democrat candidates Phil Bredesen and Jim Cooper in the US midterm elections, and asked her fans to register to vote. It came after she faced criticism for not speaking out against Trump ahead of the 2016 US presidential election.
In response to Swift making her stance public, Trump told reporters (via BBC News): “Let’s just say I like Taylor’s music about 25 per cent less now, OK.”
The singer shared a video message that saw her endorse Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on the eve of the 2020 election.
Swift had previously allowed her music to be used in a political advert for the first time. Her 2020 song ‘Only The Young’ soundtracked a commercial from Eric Swalwell, which urged people to vote for the Democratic Party.
The ‘Anti-Hero’ artist accused Trump of “stoking the fires of white supremacy and racism” in May 2020, in response to a tweet that was flagged by Twitter for “inciting violence”.
“‘When the looting starts the shooting starts’???” she wrote, quoting Trump’s post on the platform. “We will vote you out in November. @realdonaldtrump.”
In 2019, the star accused Trump of “gaslighting the American public into being, like: ‘If you hate the President, you hate America’.”
Swift continued: “We’re a democracy – or at least we’re supposed to be – where you’re allowed to disagree, dissent, debate. I really think he thinks this is an autocracy.”
Last September, the singer used her platform again to urge her fans to register to vote – which drove record-breaking numbers to the Vote.org website.
Trump allies later pledged a “holy war” against the singer. In an email sent to Rolling Stone, Trump campaign and senior advisor Jason Miller said: “Joe Biden might be counting on Taylor Swift to save him, but voters are looking at these sky-high inflation rates and saying: ‘We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together’.”
The former POTUS then claimed that he had made Swift “so much money” in her career.
“I signed and was responsible for the Music Modernization Act for Taylor Swift and all other Musical Artists. Joe Biden didn’t do anything for Taylor, and never will,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.
“There’s no way she could endorse Crooked Joe Biden, the worst and most corrupt President in the History of our Country, and be disloyal to the man who made her so much money.”
Trump added: “Besides that, I like her boyfriend, Travis [Kelce], even though he may be a Liberal, and probably can’t stand me!”
While Trump signed the Music Modernization Act (MMA) into law in 2018, Swift wasn’t a major beneficiary.
Last October, California governor Gavin Newsom – who is a top Biden surrogate – said he believed Swift‘s influence would have a “profoundly powerful impact on the 2024 US presidential election”.
Trump was recently found guilty on all 34 counts in his hush-money case. The verdict makes Trump the first-ever president of the United States to be convicted of a crime. He is due to return to Manhattan court on July 11 for his sentencing.
Despite this, Trump has reinforced his intent to run for candidacy in the 2024 presidential election: “The real verdict is gonna be November 5th by the people. They know what happened here, everybody knows what happened here.”
In other news, Taylor Swift kicked off the UK and Ireland leg of her ‘Eras Tour’ in Edinburgh last week. Check out NME‘s five-star review of the first concert here.
The pop giant will also visit Liverpool, Cardiff and Dublin as part of the tour, and play eight sold-out concerts at London’s Wembley Stadium. She recently confirmed extra support acts for her first three dates in the capital (June 21, 22, 23).
Last month, it was reported that the ‘Eras Tour’ would boost the UK economy by £1billion.