TN-Sen: Taylor Swift announces endorsement based on women's issues, but there's a twist

Pop star Taylor Swift announced in a surprise post on Instagram Sunday that she is supporting former Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen, a Democrat, in the crucial race for Tennessee's U.S. Senate seat. In doing so, Swift denounced Rep. Marsha Blackburn, the Republican who is challenging Bredesen.

Unfortunately for Swift, social media users quickly pointed out a flaw in her endorsement reasoning.

What did Swift say?

Declaring her support for LGBT rights while denouncing radical, gender, and sexual orientation discrimination, Swift said Blackburn's voting record in Congress "terrifies" her.

"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 to her 112 million Instagram followers.

After accusing Blackburn of having "voted against equal pay for women" and a bill that "attempts to protect women from domestic violence, stalking, and date rape," Swift ripped Blackburn's stance on LGBT issues and stated, "These are not MY Tennessee values."

Instead, the music legend explained Bredesen, a moderate Democrat who could very well win the Senate seat from Republicans, is the right man for the job.

"I will be voting for Phil Bredesen for Senate and Jim Cooper for House of Representatives," she said. Cooper is the incumbent congressman for Tennessee's 5th Congressional District, which includes Nashville. He is a Democrat.

 

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A post shared by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift) on Oct 7, 2018 at 4:33pm PDT

What's the irony?

As people pointed out on social media Sunday, Swift's endorsement of Bredesen, which she in part attributed to Blackburn's apparent lack of support for women's causes, comes after Bredesen offered up some support of his own.

Last week, Bredesen announced that he supported the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. Bredesen remained silent for months, issuing his statement in the final hours before a key procedural vote that laid the foundation for Saturday's confirmation vote.

Bredesen said that he initially supported Kavanaugh's nomination — although he never stated that support publicly — and believed Kavanaugh remained qualified for the Supreme Court after numerous women raised unsubstantiated allegations of sexual assault against Kavanaugh.

It's not clear if Swift supported Kavanaugh or if she was aware that Bredesen did.

How did Blackburn respond?

The Blackburn campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from TheBlaze.

Will Swift's endorsement move the needle?

Presumably, given her influence, she likely persuaded some Tennesseans to reconsider their support for Blackburn, although it's impossible to know for sure.