WASHINGTON – Music superstar Lady Gaga yesterday got into an unlikely Twitter feud with US President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign after it accused her of being anti-fracking.
Democratic challenger Joe Biden announced that Gaga will appear with him this evening at a drive-in rally in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a state crucial to clinching victory tomorrow.
Trump’s team responded immediately, slamming the joint appearance.
“Nothing exposes Joe Biden’s disdain for the forgotten working men and women of Pennsylvania like campaigning with anti-fracking activist Lady Gaga,” said campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh in a statement posted to Twitter.
“This desperate effort to drum up enthusiasm for his lacklustre candidacy is actually a sharp stick in the eye for 600,000 Pennsylvanians who work in the fracking industry,” he said, adding that Biden has “repeatedly promised left-wing activists” to end fracking should he take office.
Fracking – gas and oil extraction from deep underground rock using an injection of water and chemicals – boomed in the mid-2000s thanks to new technology.
By 2014, it made the US the world’s biggest oil and gas producer.
However, its costs are high: the drilling triggers earthquakes, while research links its air emissions and water contamination to a myriad of health problems. It also contributes to global warming when methane leaks out from drilling wells and becomes a highly potent greenhouse gas.
Biden favours prohibiting new fracking on public land and transitioning the country to renewables, but has said he will not eliminate fracking entirely.
Gaga clapped back at Murtaugh, tweeting: “HEY TIM HEY @realDonaldTrump SO HAPPY IM GLAD TO BE LIVING RENT FREE in your HEAD. #BidenHarris.”
The Grammy winner attached an image of Murtaugh’s statement, decorated with animated stickers that said “LOL” and “Vote Biden”, as well as the message: “Heeeey Donald... #WINNING (also, what is a fracking?) keep your jobs PA... We (heart emoji) You.”
Murtaugh thanked the singer for sharing the statement with her 82 million followers, saying he hopes “lots of folks in PA see this”.
“Next time @ me,” he added, referring to Twitter’s method of tagging people in posts.
But there was only love for Gaga in the rest of the comments, where fans jokingly urged her to “END HIM” and “GET HIM QUEEN”.
Biden currently leads Trump by an average of 4.3 percentage points in Pennsylvania, according to RealClearPolitics. – AFP, November 2, 2020
