WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump questioned whether pop star Taylor Swift was “legitimately liberal,” according to an excerpt from an upcoming book.
Variety co-editor-in-chief Ramin Setoodeh, author of the forthcoming book “Apprentice in Wonderland: How Donald Trump and Mark Burnett Took America Through the Looking Glass,” asked Trump what his thoughts were on Swift last year, according to Variety. During the interview, Trump 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.”
The former president also called her “very beautiful” and said he hears “she’s very talented,” according to Variety.
While Swift hasn’t regularly weighed in on politics, she did endorse President Joe Biden in 2020, claiming that Trump’s “ineffective leadership gravely worsened the crisis that we are in and he is now taking advantage of it to subvert and destroy our right to vote and vote safely” in a social media post at the time.
The “Tortured Poets Department” artist has also said she regrets not getting involved in the 2016 presidential election, when Trump won his first term. Swift in her 2020 documentary “Miss Americana” also knocked Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., calling her “Trump in a wig.”
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The then-president responded to Swift at the time, joking that he liked her music “about 25% less.”
Though she hasn’t endorsed Biden this year, some Republican figures have spread conspiracy theories about Swift and her love story with Kansas City Chiefs player Travis Kelce, including whether their relationship is a PR-driven effort connected to Biden.
The New York Times reported that Biden’s campaign is seeking Swift’s endorsement.
