It’s been a full decade since Kanye West famously sabotaged Taylor Swift’s VMA speech. But a lot has changed since then. Most recently, Swift has vocaslied her political voice, tackled sexism with her song The Man and called out “manipulative bully” Scooter Braun who now owns her first six albums. She also launched a petition calling for LGBTQ+ equality rights in America. 

So, this year’s VMAs was a very different story, with Swift taking full control of her winning moment by delivering a strong message to the White House about the petition. In fact, it was such a powerful move that she has now received a response from Trump’s administration. 

Accepting the Video of the Year award for Pride themed video for You Need to Calm Down, Swift said:

“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 under the law regardless of who we love or how we identify, which basically just says we all deserve equal rights under the law.” 

“I want to thank everyone that 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,” she continued, while pretending to look at a watch on her wrist (implying that the Trump administration needs to address the petition).

Swift was joined on stage by stars of the video, including Dexter Mayfield, Todrick Hall, Hannah Hart Riley Knoxx and Jade Joli.

The petition that she referred to is the one she addressed to senator Lamar Alexander in June, before sharing it with fans on social media so that they could co-sign.

 The White House has now responded to Swift’s comments at the VMAs, saying the administration “opposes discrimination” but doesn’t support the bill because it is “filled with poison pills”. 

Deputy press secretary Judd Deerehe told CNN: “The Trump administration absolutely opposes discrimination of any kind and supports the equal treatment of all; however, the House-passed bill in its current form is filled with poison pills that threaten to undermine parental and conscience rights.” 

This echoes the statement made by the White House made after the petition’s initial release. 

Swift hasn’t yet publicly acknowledged the response, but it’s clear she’s going to continue the fight for equality. 

Images: Getty