Taylor Swift on Friday blasted President Donald Trump for a tweet he posted hours prior suggesting that protesters in Minnesota should be shot.
“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,” she wrote. Swift has more than 86 million followers. Swift previously said she intends to “do everything I can” to see Trump is not reelected.
Twitter placed a public interest notice on that tweet from Trump about continued protests in Minneapolis following the death of George Floyd.
Trump’s tweet said: “These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen. Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!”
The social media platform’s notice said the tweet “violated the Twitter rules about glorifying violence. However, Twitter has determined that it may be in the public’s interest for the tweet to remain accessible.”
The official account for the White House also shared Trump’s message and had the notice slapped on that post.
Twitter’s Friday decision to add the notice to the president’s tweet comes amid an intensifying showdown between the company and Trump after it fact-checked two of his recent tweets. The move infuriated Trump, who in turn on Thursday signed an executive order aimed at removing some of the legal protections provided to social media platforms.
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey earlier in the week reaffirmed the company’s commitment to fact-check information related to elections despite Trump’s attacks.
