Tate McRae addressed MAGA affiliations after being branded a supporter following her country music collaboration.
McRae, 23, joined forces with Morgan Wallen last year to record “What I Want,” the fifth single released from his “I’m the Problem” album. The song debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became her first chart-topping hit.
In addition to the music, her reported relationship with NHL star Jack Hughes sparked political speculation after he joined team members and laughed at a joke made by President Trump during a congratulatory call for their Olympic hockey win.
When Variety asked why it was important for the “You Broke Me First” singer to navigate around those kinds of conversations, McRae noted that her actions speak louder than her words.
“I like to say my piece through organizations I support and the environment that I have on tour,” she said before the outlet noted that McRae posted a TikTok last year advertising a “Little Miss Possessive” sweatshirt with proceeds going to the Global Fund for Women and The Trevor Project, a suicide prevention nonprofit for LGBTQ+ youth.
“I think it’s pretty obvious what kind of person I am and the things I support. And I hope that my fans can see that through the things that I’m putting my energy towards.”
Much like her political affiliations, McRae protects her personal life at all costs and tries not to feed into speculation.
While celebrating their Olympic gold win this summer, the US men’s hockey team received a phone call from the president via FBI Director Kash Patel, who was in the room at the time.
In addition to an invitation to his State of the Union, Trump ignited a firestorm online after saying, “I must tell you we’re going to have to bring the women too; you do know that. Believe me, I probably would be impeached, okay?”
Hughes, who scored the game-winning goal, was seen laughing with his teammates.
Multiple mainstream media outlets published op-eds condemning the men’s team for laughing at the joke and also visiting the White House to celebrate and Trump’s State of the Union address.
“I try to keep my relationships as sacred and private as possible,” the singer said.
“I love the people in my life. They love me. You just try to keep that circle as positive and supportive as possible.”
She added, “And the outside noise, I can’t do anything about that. Focusing my energy on something that I can’t control, it just puts me in a bad mood.”
Following the end of her 88-stop “Miss Possessive” tour, which grossed more than $100 million and cemented her newly-appointed star status, McRae reflected on the emotional toll of the experience.
“I remember reading Sylvia Plath being like, ‘I am her,’” she said. “My thoughts felt so dark at the time, and I felt so lonely. I really needed to come back into my body and regulate my nervous system.”
“I was so shot after the tour. I couldn’t really sleep at night. I’d seen so much of myself that I was like, ‘I want to go into a black room and not look in a mirror for six months.’”
She added, “And I think I really had to check myself and be like, ‘You’re not the worst person in the world. You’re not the ugliest person in the world. You haven’t done everything wrong. And, you know, you’re just doing what you love.’”
Already working on her fourth studio album, McRae recently headlined Lollapalooza and will soon take the stage at Montreal’s Osheaga Festival – her first time performing at a festival in her home country.
“There’s always thought about how you want your legacy to go down,” she said. “For me, the way to do that is try to beat your last performance, try to beat your last song, try to grow, evolve, pick it apart, rip it apart, figure out what didn’t work, what I didn’t like about that performance, what I could have done better, why I was nervous, figure out how to not be nervous.
“I think the more you can master yourself and your performances, the better you get.”