Exclusive — Marsha Blackburn: ‘Taylor Swift Would Be the First Victim’ of ‘Marxism,’ ‘Socialistic Government’

NASHVILLE, Tennessee — Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) told Breitbart News that if socialists win and implement “Marxism” in government that the “first victim” of the new leftist society would be creative community leaders like country-turned-pop star Taylor Swift.

Blackburn’s comments came in an exclusive interview at her home just outside Nashville here in middle Tennessee, part of the latest On The Hill long-form Breitbart News video series. Blackburn’s warning to Swift came as she addressed the country music industry—where Swift got her start—fending off leftist woke influences.

“When you talk about country music, and I know the left is all out now and trying to change country music and make it woke,” Blackburn said. “When I’m talking to my friends who are musicians and entertainers, I say, ‘If we have a socialistic government—if we have Marxism—you are going to be the first ones who will be cut off because the state would have to approve your music.'”

“Taylor Swift came after me in my 2018 campaign,” Blackburn continued. “But Taylor Swift would be the first victim of that because when you look at Marxist socialistic societies, they do not allow women to dress or sing or be on stage or to entertain or the type music she would have. They don’t allow protection of private intellectual property rights.”

Blackburn specifically singling out Swift—and saying that her conservative policies are protecting Swift’s right to succeed in the music industry—is particularly interesting, especially given her personal history with the music icon. Swift, who rose to prominence in Nashville’s country music scene before transitioning to pop music, generally avoided politics in the early years of her career and did not even endorse in the 2016 presidential election, a move that drew tons of criticism from leftists. That all changed in the spring of 2018 when Swift publicly backed a gun control push from students who survived the school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school in Parkland, Florida. After pushing the “March for Our Lives” gun control protest, she later that year resorted to smearing Blackburn in an endorsement for Democrat Phil Bredesen—Tennessee’s former governor—in his U.S. Senate bid against the now-senator.