Taylor Swift fans put Mike Huckabee in his place after he implied the pop star’s support for a Democrat in Tennessee’s senate race is meaningless because her fans aren’t old enough to vote.
“So @taylorswift13 has every right to be political but it won’t impact election unless we allow 13 yr old girls to vote,” Huckabee tweeted Monday morning, adding his support for Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn.
In an Instagram post on Sunday, Swift announced her endorsement for Blackburn’s Democratic challenger, Phil Bredesen. Swift also said she’s supporting Jim Cooper in the House race.
The singer-songwriter, who had notoriously shied away from politics, said Blackburn’s voting record “appalls and terrifies me.” Blackburn voted against the 2009 Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and the 2013 reauthorization for the Violence Against Women Act.
While many applauded Swift for using her influence for civic engagement, there were those who belittled the pop star for speaking up.
But, even if old Taylor couldn’t come to the phone to defend herself to Huckabee, her army of Swifties had her back.
First, they fact-checked his tweet, debunking his bizarre assumption that fans who listen to Taylor Swift don’t age.
Swifties also pointed out that their leader has more social media followers than President Donald Trump. (The president’s two Twitter accounts, @realDonaldTrump and @POTUS, have 79.2 million followers combined. Swift has 83.5 million.)
“November is coming,” one fan warned, foreshadowing the midterm elections.
In her Instagram post, Swift encouraged fans to educate themselves on local candidates and issues, and to register to vote.
“So many intelligent, thoughtful, self-possessed people have turned 18 in the past two years and now have the right and privilege to make their vote count,” she wrote. “But first you need to register, which is quick and easy to do.” You can look up voter registration deadlines for your state here.