Sen. Marsha Blackburn
Marsha BlackburnSenate Republicans urge CDC to lift public transportation mask mandate GOP senator introduces constitutional amendment to ban flag burning Fauci on Blackburn video: ‘No idea what she is talking about’ MORE (R-Tenn.) said during an interview published this week that Taylor Swift
Taylor Alison SwiftCalifornia police officer plays Taylor Swift to prevent protesters’ video from being posted to YouTube The Hill’s 12:30 Report – Presented by Facebook – Social media flooded with ‘ring of fire’ eclipse photos Taylor Swift presses support for Equality Act in Pride message MORE, who came out against her ahead of the 2018 midterms, and other performers would be “the first victim” of a socialist or Marxist government.
“When I’m talking to my friends who are musicians and entertainers, I say, ‘If — if we have a socialistic government, if we have Marxism, you are going to be the first ones who will be caught off because the state would have to approve your music,’ ” Blackburn told Breitbart News.
“And, you know, Taylor Swift, came after me and my 2018 campaign, but Taylor Swift would be the first victim of that because when you look at Marxist, socialist societies, they do not allow women to dress, or sing, or be on stage, or to entertain,” she continued, adding that such governments “don’t allow protection of private intellectual property rights.”
It was unclear to which societies the Tennessee Republican was referring.
“I know the left is all out now and trying to change country music and make it woke,” she added.
In 2018, Swift, a Tennessee native who noted at the time that she had “been reluctant to publicly voice my political opinions,” came out against Blackburn and other Republicans ahead of that year’s elections.
“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 on Instagram.
In her “Miss Americana” Netflix documentary in 2020, Swift was again critical of the senator’s policies, calling her “Trump in a wig.”
The Hill has reached out to Universal Music Group, which owns the record label Swift is currently signed with, Republic Records, for comment.