Taylor Swift calls out Donald Trump and the White House during VMA speech

Words: Steve Brown

Taylor Swift hit back at the White House as she accepted her Video Music Awards (VMA).

The singer took home the prestigious Video of the Year award during the VMAs over the weekend for her LGBTQ anthem, ‘You Need To Calm Down’.

While accepting her award, Swift hit back at Donald Trump and the White House.
She said: “I just want to say that this is a fan-voted award.

“So, I first want to say thank you to the fans because in this video, several points were made, so you voting for this video means that you want a world where we’re all treated equally.

“Regardless of who we are, regardless of how we identify, at the end of this video there was a petition – and there still is a petition for the Equality Act, which basically just says we all deserve equal rights under the law.

“And, I want to thank everyone who signed that petition because it now has half-a-million signatures, which is five times the amount that it would need to warrant a response from the White House.”

CONGRATS @taylorswift13 on her SECOND time winning VIDEO OF THE YEAR #VMAs pic.twitter.com/l8TOibbTTr

— Video Music Awards (@vmas) August 27, 2019

During her performing, the words ‘Equality Act’ featured making a direct reference to her support of legislation that would prevent discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

How can we possibly calm down after @TaylorSwift13‘s #VMAs performance?! 💗✨ pic.twitter.com/a2mDA4Coby

— MTV (@MTV) August 27, 2019

Check out the full list of winners below:

Video of the year

WINNER: Taylor Swift – “You Need to Calm Down”

Artist of the year

WINNER: Ariana Grande

Song of the year

WINNER: Lil Nas X ft. Billy Ray Cyrus – “Old Town Road (Remix)”

Best new artist

WINNER: Billie Eilish

Best collaboration

WINNER: Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello – “Señorita”

Push artist of the year

WINNER: Billie Eilish

Best hip hop

WINNER: Cardi B – “Money”

Best pop

WINNER: Jonas Brothers – “Sucker”

Best dance

WINNER: The Chainsmokers ft. Bebe Rexha – “Call You Mine”

Best K-pop

WINNER: BTS ft. Halsey – “Boy With Luv”

Best Latin

WINNER: ROSALÍA & J Balvin ft. El Guincho – “Con Altura”

Best R&B

WINNER: Normani ft. 6lack – “Waves”

Best rock

WINNER: Panic! At The Disco – “High Hopes”

Video for good

WINNER: Taylor Swift – “You Need to Calm Down”

Best editing

WINNER: Billie Eilish – “Bad Guy” – Editing by Billie Eilish

Best art direction

WINNER: Ariana Grande – “7 Rings” – Art Direction by John Richoux