Taylor Swift criticized President Donald Trump on Saturday for the “calculated dismantling” of the U.S. Postal Service and called for her fans to “vote early” in the upcoming 2020 presidential election, according to USA Today.
“Trump’s calculated dismantling of USPS proves one thing clearly: He is WELL AWARE that we do not want him as our president,” Swift wrote on Twitter. “He’s chosen to blatantly cheat and put millions of Americans’ lives at risk in an effort to hold on to power.”
Donald 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. Request a ballot early. Vote early.
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) August 15, 2020
Swift’s criticism comes after Trump acknowledged in an interview with Fox Business Thursday that he is opposing more funding for USPS because it will make mail-in voting more difficult in the upcoming election, according to The Hill.
Some are claiming that the president’s attempts to block funding for USPS are an attempt to influence the November election, as more voters are likely to cast mail-in ballots amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, according to Entertainment Weekly.
“Donald 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,” Swift continued on Twitter. “Request a ballot early. Vote early.”
This is not the first time that Swift has criticized President Trump. In May, she slammed Trump’s response to the protests in Minneapolis following the police killing of George Floyd and accused him of “stoking the fires of white supremacy and racism,” according to Entertainment Weekly.
Swift’s tweet in May was in response to a tweet from Trump, in which he wrote in response to protesters that “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.” Trump’s tweet was later restricted by Twitter because it was “glorifying violence,” the Deseret News reported at the time.
After stoking the fires of white supremacy and racism your entire presidency, you have the nerve to feign moral superiority before threatening violence? ‘When the looting starts the shooting starts’??? We will vote you out in November. @realdonaldtrump
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) May 29, 2020
Swift is not the only celebrity recently to speak out on behalf of the U.S. Postal Service, USA Today reported. Mark Hamill, Tom Hanks and Reese Witherspoon have been among those who have also shown their support and encouraged Congress to act to increase funding.
THIS! 💯%
— Mark Hamill (@HamillHimself) August 17, 2020
👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇 https://t.co/4CMh2mWMIK
The @USPS is critical to this year’s elections. We need mail-in ballots to be delivered, so that we have fair elections. Congress must act to save the #USPostalService NOW! https://t.co/yqnKm1QJHp pic.twitter.com/qorwbUoTWj
— Reese Witherspoon (@ReeseW) August 11, 2020