UPDATE, 5/29/20, 4:40pm ET: fired Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, the man seen kneeling on George Floyd’s neck as he said he couldn’t breathe, has been arrested and charged with 3rd degree murder.
ORIGINAL: Taylor Swift didn’t hold back when she tweeted at Donald Trump on May 29, condemning the president, 73, for calling for violence against the protesters in Minneapolis. “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, 30, wrote. Trump had tweeted something so egregious earlier in the day that Twitter flagged it for “glorifying violence.” The shocking message read: “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!”
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
….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!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 29, 2020
The tweet was hidden on Trump’s timeline and stamped with a warning label from Twitter: “This 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.” It also includes a link to Twitter’s definition of “public interest.” He tweeted directly before the flagged text, “I can’t stand back & watch this happen to a great American City, Minneapolis. A total lack of leadership. Either the very weak Radical Left Mayor, Jacob Frey, get his act together and bring the City under control, or I will send in the National Guard & get the job done right.” Hours later, the White House’s official account attempted to post the same thing the president wrote in his flagged tweet hours later. It was stamped with a warning label, as well.
Thousands have protested for days in Minneapolis after Floyd, an unarmed and handcuffed Black man, died after a white police officer knelt on his neck as he repeatedly said he couldn’t breathe. The May 25 event was caught on camera by a 17-year-old girl, who posted the footage on Facebook. People begged the officer to get off of Floyd, and he didn’t, even after the man became unresponsive. He later died at the hospital. Four officers involved in the incident were fired, but have not been charged with any crimes. Protesters started at the intersection where Floyd was assaulted, and have made their way through the city. The demonstration has sometimes become violent, with a police precinct burning down, and a Target being looted.
Celebrities like LeBron James and Kim Kardashian have voiced their support for Floyd after his horrifying death. Cardi B has rallied behind the protesters, as well. “The people are left with no choice,” she said on Twitter. Now, Taylor has joined in. The “Lover” singer has become vocally political over the past year after staying noticeably silent during the 2016 election. She explained in an interview that she didn’t think endorsing Hillary Clinton would “help.” But now, she’s all in on getting Trump out of office.
Taylor said in her Miss Americana documentary that it was her 2017 sexual assault trial that made her speak up about politics. “t’s not that I want to step into [politics],” Taylor explained, discussing why she took a stand against Tennessee Republican Senate candidate Marsha Blackburn in 2018. “I just can’t not at this point. It’s something different in my life — something completely and unchangeably different — the sexual assault trial. No man in my organization or my family will ever understand what that was like.”