Tate McRae is a throwback type of pop star — a flashy, hair-flipping, choreography-forward singer who doesn't exactly work to build parasocial relationships with the fans who call themselves (swear to god) Tater Tots. She has also largely avoided taking any kind of political stand, which has its own drawbacks, like the moments when fans worry that she might have MAGA tendencies.
Now: Tate McRae is Canadian, which sort runs against the MAGA thing, though god knows it's possible to be right-wing and Canadian. (Donald Trump himself is awfully unpopular in Canada, partly due to his suggestion that the entire country should become an American state, but he still has fans up there.) Last year, though, McRae appeared on Morgan Wallen's #1 hit "What I Want." (Wallen hasn't declared any political alignments, either, but there have been signals.) Also, McRae has been romantically linked with New Jersey Devils player Jack Hughes, one of the Team USA hockey stars seen partying in the locker room with Kash Patel and hyuking it up at Trump's bullshit jokes about the American women's hockey team.
Now, McRae is the subject of a Variety profile, in which she (sort of) addresses those MAGA rumors. In response to a question about staying out of politics, McRae says, "I like to say my piece through organizations I support and the environment that I have on tour... 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."
On the one hand, it's true that McRae has raised money for organizations like the Trevor Project through merch sales. On the other hand, this is a textbook non-denial denial. McRae implies that she holds certain views without actually going ahead and saying what she thinks. Too many public figures do this, speaking in publicist-coached aphorisms for fear of offending any potential paying customer. It's cowardly!
For more scintillating quotes like that, you can read the full Variety feature here.
