Scooter Braun suggested he was siding with Taylor Swift when it comes to the upcoming presidential election in a social media response to Donald Trump.
The 43-year-old talent manager shared a response to the Republican presidential candidate on his Instagram Stories on Sunday after Trump lashed out at Swift, 34, on his social media platform, Truth Social.
“I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!” Trump raged on Sunday, after the singer shared a supportive message shortly after her debate performance, in which she showed her support for Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
Despite Swift’s long history of feuding with Braun over his purchase of most of her old master recordings, the record executive appeared to defend her against Trump while reemphasizing his own support for the presidential election.
“Get it off Donald,” Braun wrote in his post, including a screenshot of Trump’s original post.
Scooter Braun, 43, seemingly defended Taylor Swift on Sunday as he mocked former President Donald Trump after Swift complained on his social media platform; seen in 2021 in Los Angeles
Braun also voiced his support for Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris after Swift endorsed her shortly after the Trump-Harris presidential debate.
She made it clear she supported the Democrat in the race by adding “Kamala 2024” underneath, along with an American flag emoji.
Braun has made few public political statements throughout the tumultuous election, but previously revealed he supported Harris.
In an Instagram post on August 3, he shared several photos of himself with Kamala Harris while showing his support for her.
He boasted that he was “proud” to call Harris his “friend” and noted that he had previously voted for both Republicans and Democrats, but said he thought she would be the best candidate to represent “all of us” and to stand up to “anti-Semitism and hate in all its forms.”
Braun’s apparent defense of Swift and his mockery of Trump were particularly unexpected after Swift repeatedly criticized him for purchasing her old master recordings.
In 2019, Braun, funded by several private equity firms, purchased Taylor Swift’s former label, Big Machine Records.
A year earlier, he had joined Republic Records to publish his future releases.
By purchasing the label, Braun gained ownership of all of Swift’s master recordings through 2017’s Reputation, while 2019’s Lover was her first album with Republic.
As an owner, you could profit from sales and streaming of your first albums.
Swift later claimed that she had attempted to purchase her own master recordings, but was blocked by Big Machine Records, who had only offered her a deal where she would have to record a new album with Big Machine every time she wanted her old master recordings back, beginning with her first album, 2006’s Taylor Swift.
In response, the Blank Space singer began re-recording all of Braun’s owned albums into deluxe ‘Taylor’s Version’ editions in the hopes that her fans would repurchase them and only stream her re-recorded versions in the future, robbing Braun of the revenue he hoped to earn from her masters.
So far, the “Taylor’s Version” series has been a success for Swift. The albums have been comparable hits to her new studio albums and have helped her break multiple sales records.
Some critics have also praised the new versions for featuring Swift’s more mature voice compared to the original versions.
So far, Taylor doesn’t seem to have reacted to Scooter’s Instagram post referencing her.
“I hate Taylor Swift!” Trump fumed Sunday, in his angriest response since she drew attention by endorsing his opponent; pictured Friday in Las Vegas
Braun wrote: “Get it off Donald,” adding: “Kamala 2024.”
Braun and Swift have been feuding since 2019, when he purchased her master recordings through 2017’s Reputation. She has since launched a re-recording campaign to regain control of her recordings and strip him of the income she makes from them; photographed Wednesday in New York
Trump had previously said he had “no idea” about Swift’s endorsement shortly after the debate; pictured Saturday in Las Vegas
Trump posted “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!” on his Truth Social account without any additional context
Trump’s anti-Swift post on Truth Social came just five days after she said in a lengthy Instagram post that she would vote for Harris in November.
She also encouraged her millions of followers to research the election and register to vote with a link she shared from vote.gov on her Instagram story by sharing her grid post.
Trump’s post on Sunday is his angriest response to Swift yet.
Immediately after Tuesday’s debate, Trump was asked about his reaction to Swift’s endorsement and he simply replied, “I have no idea.”
Hundreds of thousands of people (about 337,000 as of earlier this week) clicked on the link in Swift’s story, which represents a very small percentage of her 284 million followers.
More than 11 million people liked the image Swift posted of herself with one of her three cats named after fictional character Benjamin Button.
Swift signed her support for Harris with: ‘Childless Cat Lady’
It’s a reference to Trump’s running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance, who said in a 2021 interview with Tucker Carlson that the United States is being run by Democrats, corporate oligarchs and “a bunch of childless, cat-loving women who are miserable with their own lives and the choices they’ve made and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too.”
Swift called herself a “childless cat lady” with her lengthy Instagram post on Tuesday in which she revealed her 2024 vote and posted an image of herself with one of her three cats – Benjamin Button
The phrase was widely criticized by single women across the country.
While some say Swift’s foray into political waters this election could be a game-changer in November, poll numbers suggest her support may have little bearing on the state of the race.
A new ABC News/Ipsos poll Data released Sunday indicates that only six percent of Americans say the singer-songwriter’s endorsement makes them more likely to vote for Harris.
Meanwhile, 13 percent say it makes them less likely to back the ICE president (though it’s unclear whether those people were seriously considering voting for Harris in the first place), and 81 percent say it makes no difference.