Taylor Swift’s and Miley Cyrus‘ big wins at this year’s Grammys appear to have brought attention to their political views, in particular their attitude toward former President Donald Trump.
Swift—who won album of the year and best pop vocal album for Midnights—and Cyrus—who won record of the year for Flowers—have publicly spoken out against Trump, with mounting speculation whether Swift will endorse Joe Biden in this year’s presidential race, a move that could boost the incumbent’s chances of reelection.
As that speculation continues, one post on social media suggested that Swift and Cyrus had pledged they would leave the country if Trump wins the 2024 race.
The Claim
A post by David Wolfe on X, formerly Twitter, on February 5, 2024, viewed 144,00 times said: “Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus say they will leave the United States if Donald Trump becomes President in 2024.
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“What’s your reaction?”
The Facts
Swift and Cyrus have spoken out publicly against Trump.
Referring to Trump in a 2019 interview with The Guardian, Swift said: “We’re a democracy—at least, we’re supposed to be—where you’re allowed to disagree, dissent, debate. I really think that he thinks this is an autocracy.” In 2019, Cyrus referred to Trump in a Vanity Fair interview in 2019 as a “‘Racist, Sexist, Hateful A**hole.'”
However, the claim that the superstar singers have said they will leave the U.S. if Trump is elected this year is misleading.
There is no record of Swift saying publicly that she would leave in the event that Trump won. Newsweek has reached out to media representatives for Swift via email for comment.
While Cyrus previously said she would leave the U.S. if he were elected, these comments were walked back and it does not appear she’s repeated them regarding the 2024 contest.
The Wrecking Ball singer did say in a 2016 Instagram post that appears to have been deleted, that she would leave the U.S. were Trump elected.
Published reports quoted Cyrus as saying she would be “moving if this is my president” referring to Trump, adding that “Donald Trump is a f****** nightmare!”
Cyrus did not do so when Trump won in 2016, telling NME in 2017: “I’m not f****** leaving the country, that’s some ignorant s***, that’s dumb.
“Because that’s me abandoning my country when I think I’ve got a good thing to say to my country.
“And trust me, I hear every day on my Instagram, ‘Just leave already! When are you going to leave?’ Well, that’s not going to be any good. Does it really matter where I am? Because wherever I am, my f****** voice is gonna be heard, and I’ll make sure of it.”
Cyrus addressed her previous comments again in Vanity Fair in 2019, saying “You know, I said I would move away if he became president. We all said a bunch of s*** we didn’t mean.”
It does not appear that Cyrus has made the same threat to leave should Trump win the 2024 election. Newsweek has reached out to Cyrus’ legal representatives via email for comment.
Exclusive polling conducted for Newsweek by Redfield & Wilton Strategies found that 18 percent of voters say they’re “more likely” or “significantly more likely” to vote for a candidate endorsed by Swift.
Seventeen percent said they would be less likely to vote for a Swift-backed candidate, while 55 percent would be neither more nor less likely to do so. The survey, which had a sample size of 1,500 eligible voters, was conducted on January 18 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.53 percent.
The Ruling
False.
Neither Swift nor Cyrus have said publicly that they would leave the U.S. if Trump is elected president in 2024. Cyrus said in 2016 that she would leave if Trump won the presidential election that year. When he did, Cyrus did not leave and later walked back her comments.
