Out actor-comedian Billy Eichner says
he's “really impressed with Taylor Swift for speaking out”
politically.
In October, Swift, 28, endorsed a
political candidate, a first for the singer. Swift endorsed
Democrats Phil Bredesen and Jim Cooper to represent Tennessee in
Congress. (Bredesen lost to Senator Marsha Blackburn, a Republican,
on Tuesday, while Representative Jim Cooper, a Democrat, won his
House race.)
“It is strange to me that
[celebrities] wouldn’t want to use [their platform], considering
the level of evil, corruption and cruelty coming from the highest
positions of power in our government," Eichner told UK LGBT
glossy Attitude.
"I have to say I was really
impressed with Taylor Swift for speaking out. She’s taken a lot of
shit over the years for not being political, and I’m glad that
she’s turned a corner and we’re now seeing how much influence she
has.”
"On one hand, you might say she
should have done it earlier, and I don’t necessarily disagree with
that,” he said.
Eichner added that he'll continue to
speak out against the administration of President Donald Trump,
describing Trump as a “con artist.”
“I've always cared about politics, I
just wasn't necessarily as vocal about it,” said
Eichner, who appears in FX's American Horror Story and
Hulu's Difficult People. “But Trump is such a con artist
that he's inspired outrage in me, as an LGBT+ person but also just as
an American and a human being.”
“And I know that’s true of millions
of people all over the USA and throughout the world. Fewer people are
just standing on the sidelines and not participating."
"Above everything, beyond being 'a
liberal, gay, Jewish New Yorker,' I simply don’t like being lied to
and I don’t like to see people with less resources being exploited
– even if we disagree politically – by wealthy people in
positions of power,” he added.