Taylor Swift tears into Trump's 'calculated dismantling of USPS' and 'ineffective leadership,' telling her followers to request a ballot early

• Taylor Swift on Saturday spoke out against President Donald Trump, accusing him of a "calculated" effort to dismantle the postal service and "ineffective leadership gravely worsened" by the coronavirus pandemic.
• Swift faced criticism for her reluctance to speak on politics in the 2016 election, but since 2018 she has used her platform to speak out against Trump and other Republicans.
• The USPS has been the subject of public controversy following yearslong financial struggles exacerbated by COVID-19 and recent cost-cutting measures from new Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a former Republican donor.
• The president, meanwhile, has attacked mail-in voting, though he and the first lady intend to vote by mail themselves.

Taylor Swift on Saturday called out President Donald Trump for his actions related to the postal service in a tweet that urged her nearly 87 million Twitter followers to request a ballot and to vote early.

"Trump's calculated dismantling of USPS proves one thing clearly: He is WELL AWARE that we do not want him as our president," she tweeted on Saturday. "He's chosen to blatantly cheat and put millions of Americans' lives at risk in an effort to hold on to power."

She continued: "Donald Trump's ineffective leadership gravely worsened the crisis that we are in and he is now taking advantage of it to subvert and destroy our right to vote and vote safely. Request a ballot early. Vote early." Swift's tweet comes amid ongoing struggles at the USPS, the result of yearslong financial woes that have been exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic. Further complicating the postal service are cost-cutting measures implemented by new Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a former Trump donor, that have caused delays in service to some parts of the US.

—Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) August 15, 2020

The turbulence comes amid many state efforts to bolster their mail-in-voting programs amid the novel coronavirus pandemic to provide more opportunity to cast a ballot without showing up in person on Election day.

The president, an outspoken opponent of mail-in ballots, last week said he wouldn't support a bailout to the USPS in an effort to sabotage mail-in voting. He later backtracked and said he wouldn't reject a bailout package that included funding to the postal service.

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As Business Insider previously reported, elections officials have encouraged voters to apply for their ballots as soon as possible to ensure every vote is counted.

During the 2016 election that saw Trump ascend from reality host to the presidency, Swift faced criticism for her reluctance to speak on politics. The artist detailed her path to becoming more politically active during her documentary "Miss Americana," released on Netflix earlier this year.Swift, who last month released her eighth album "Folklore," first spoke publicly on politics during the 2018 midterms, calling on her followers to register to vote and rebuking then-candidate and now Sen. Marsha Blackburn, whom she called "Trump in a wig" in the 2020 documentary.

In May, Swift similarly blasted President Donald Trump, alleging he was "stoking the flames of white supremacy" after he threatened to send the National Guard to protests in Minneapolis and tweeted, "When the looting starts, the shooting starts."

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