Now that Taylor Swift has spoken out about her political beliefs—like urging people to register to vote and endorsing progressive candidates, for example—it doesn’t look like she’ll be pulling back. In fact in a new interview with The Guardian, the singer doubles down—voicing both her unhappiness with Donald Trump’s presidency as well as the current political climate.
“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 says of Trump, adding that the current atmosphere is like “gaslighting the American public into being like, ‘If you hate the president, you hate America.’”
The singer was famously mum during the 2016 election—an action, or rather lack of action, that received much criticism at the time. But according to The Guardian, she started feeling conflicted about the United States political climate after, she says, “all the dirtiest tricks in the book were used and it worked.” That was a tumultuous time for Swift: Her mother’s cancer had relapsed, and her feud with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian was at an all-time high after the couple posted videos on social media that they claimed proved Swift approved West’s lyrics about her in the song “Famous.” (You know the one.)
“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 says. However, she adds that she now is “really remorseful” for not speaking out or endorsing Hillary Clinton for president.
Now, as the 2020 election looms closer, she tells The Guardian that she’ll “do everything” she can.
“Obviously, I’m pro-choice,” Swift adds. “I just can’t believe this is happening.”
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