Taylor Swift Calls Out the White House in VMAs Speech

Taylor Swift just won her second award at tonight's Video Music Awards, taking home the Moon Man for "You Need to Calm Down" in the Video of the Year category. In her acceptance speech, she thanked her collaborators, many of whom shared the stage with her, as well as the fans who voted for her. The fact that this was a fan-voted award was especially meaningful, Swift explained, because it meant they liked the video, which contained several important points, all of which underlined the message of equality.

"At the end of the 'You Need to Calm Down' music video, there is a petition (opens in new tab) for the Equality Act which basically says we all deserve equal rights," Swift told the cheering crowd. "It now has half a million signatures which is five times the amount needed to get the White House to respond!" She then pretended to check her invisible watch, tapping it for effect, which caused the crowd to erupt in cheers and laughter. Twitter also exploded after she dropped the line, with fans absolutely shocked and excited that the singer called out President Trump in her speech.

"While we have so much to celebrate, we also have a great distance to go before everyone in this country is truly treated equally," Swift wrote in the change.org petition. "In excellent recent news, the House has passed the Equality Act, which would protect LGBTQ people from discrimination in their places of work, homes, schools, and other public accommodations. The next step is that the bill will go before the Senate." Here's hoping this VMAs moment helps further the cause.

Watch Taylor's full "You Need to Calm Down" video here:

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