Breaking a long-standing refusal to discuss anything political, Taylor Swift has announced who she will be voting for in the midterm elections.

On Instagram, the pop star revealed she plans to support Tennessee's Democrats next month - putting an X next to Phil Bredesen for the Senate, and Jim Cooper for the House of Representatives.

The 28-year-old wrote: "In the past I've been reluctant to publicly voice my political opinions, but due to several events in my life and in the world in the past two years, I feel very differently about that now."

The Tennessee native also criticised Republican candidate and US representative Marsha Blackburn for her opposition to certain LGBTQ rights.

She said: "As much as I have in the past and would like to continue voting for women in office, I cannot support Marsha Blackburn. Her voting record in Congress appals and terrifies me.


"She voted against equal pay for women. She voted against the re-authorisation of the Violence Against Women Act, which attempts to protect women from domestic violence, stalking, and date rape.

"She believes businesses have a right to refuse service to gay couples. She also believes they should not have the right to marry. These are not MY Tennessee values."

In her impassioned post, Swift also described the "systemic racism" towards black Americans as "terrifying, sickening and prevalent".

Swift did not mention Mr Bredesen's endorsement of Brett Kavanaugh, whose Supreme Court confirmation was overshadowed by accusations of sexual assault against him.

But she did say: "For a lot of us, we may never find a candidate or party with whom we agree 100% on every issue, but we have to vote anyway."

Urging young Americans to participate in the midterms, Swift concluded: "So many intelligent, thoughtful, self-possessed people have turned 18 in the past two years and now have the right and privilege to make their vote count."

Taylor Swift has been criticised by Donald Trump for her support for Tennessee's Democrats.

Following her post, Mr Bredesen tweeted: "I'm honoured to have your support and that of so many Tennesseans who are ready to put aside the partisan shouting and get things done.

"We're ready for it."

Swift has been criticised in the past for not using her global platform to speak about politics. She has 112 million Instagram followers and 83.5 million on Twitter, despite not having tweeted since June.