A pro-Donald Trump podcaster sparked outrage by appearing to insinuate that Taylor Swift could be raped or killed by Venezuelan gangs after the singer announced she is endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris in the presidential race.
Dave Rubin, a political commentator whose YouTube channel has nearly 2.5 million subscribers, told his audience Wednesday that he thinks Swift should reconsider her endorsement of the Democrat, which was announced after Tuesday night’s debate between Harris and the former president.
Rubin was commenting on an X post by Elon Musk in which the tech mogul responded to 34-year-old Swift’s lengthy Instagram post, which she signed “childless cat lady” — a likely dig at controversial comments made by Republican vice presidential hopeful JD Vance interpreted by many as disparaging toward women without kids.
“Fine Taylor … you win … I will give you a child and guard your cats with my life,” Musk, 53, posted on X to his 197 million followers.
It wasn’t clear if Musk, who has spoken frequently about the need to grow the human population in light of declining birth rates, meant he would impregnate Swift or give her one of his 12 children.
“So, he’s mocking, he’s exposing the ridiculousness,” Rubin said of the Musk tweet.
“It’s like, Taylor Swift, you are a young, pretty girl. Do you know what the gang members from Venezuela do to young, pretty girls? It ain’t pretty.”
Trump and his supporters have made the claim that violent criminals have been let out of prisons in Venezuela and migrated to the United States, where they have managed to enter the country under the Biden administration’s lax border policies.
Reactions on X were scathing, with one commenter writing: “This guy in insane.”
Another X user wrote: “Between Dave Rubin and Elon Musk’s responses to Taylor Swift endorsing Harris, they’re really not beating the creepy weirdo allegations.”
“Thank you Dave Rubin for helping to motivate millions of Taylor Swift fans to get out and vote!” another X poster wrote.
The Post has sought comment from Rubin.
Swift posted an item on Instagram on Tuesday saying she plans to vote for Harris because “she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them.”
“I’ve done my research, and I’ve made my choice. Your research is all yours to do, and the choice is yours to make. I also want to say, especially to first time voters: Remember that in order to vote, you have to be registered!” Swift wrote to her 283 million followers.
“I also find it’s much easier to vote early. I’ll link where to register and find early voting dates and info in my story.”