Former President Donald Trump is starting to get a reputation for commenting on Taylor Swift.
On Thursday, Trump joined House Republicans for what was billed as a policy discussion to plan for the GOP’s agenda if the former president wins in November. The gathering repeatedly went off the rails, according to multiple reports. One of the digressions was Trump’s lingering resentment of Swift’s support for Biden.
“Why would she endorse this dope,” Trump said, CNN reported. “He doesn’t know how to get off a stage.”
Swift endorsed Biden in 2020. She has yet to endorse any candidates in the 2024 cycle. The pop star previously avoided commenting on politics but became increasingly vocal, starting with Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee’s successful candidacy in 2018. Swift’s desire to weigh in on the race is detailed in her “Miss Americana” documentary.
Trump, according to Politico, also noted that while in office he signed a law geared toward helping songwriters. Trump was likely referring to the Music Modernization Act, a 2018 bipartisan law that changed royalties and licensing in light of the streaming era. Artists had pushed to update music copyrights for years.
This is far from the first time Trump has commented on the world’s biggest pop star. According to the forthcoming book about Trump’s time as a reality TV star, the former president repeatedly gushed that Swift is “beautiful.”
“I think she’s beautiful — very beautiful! I find her very beautiful. I think she’s liberal,” Trump told author Ramin Setoodeh, according to an early excerpt from “Apprentice in Wonderland: How Donald Trump and Mark Burnett Took America Through the Looking Glass.
Trump couldn’t be accused of being a Swiftie, though. Setoodeh noted that he had to explain that Swift was no longer focused on country music after the former president questioned how a country star could be liberal.
“She probably doesn’t like Trump. I hear she’s very talented,” Trump said. “I think she’s very beautiful, actually — unusually beautiful!”
Tree Paine, Swift’s longtime publicist, did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
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