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Titled "Swiftly to the alt-right: Taylor subtly gets the lower case kkk in formation", Herning's piece claims Swift's single "Look What You Made Me Do" contains "dog whistles to white supremacy i

Lines like "I rose up from the dead, I do it all the time", quoted by alt-right publication Breitbart on Twitter, are equated by Herning to ideas that white supremacy has gained new traction in the wake of Trump's election.

She also compares shots from the video where, dressed in leather, Swift addresses an army of followers to images of Adolf Hitler. "Taylor lords over an army of models from a podium, akin to what Hitler had in Nazis Germany," she writes. "The similarities are uncanny and unsettling."

The piece makes no sure claim to Swift's political beliefs, but does criticise the pop star for her stark silence on the subject, in an era which has turned many pop stars into political campaigners.

"And while pop musicians are not respected world leaders, they have a huge audience and their music often reflects their values. So Taylor's silence is not innocent, it is calculated," Herning writes.

Swift has never herself publicly denounced her white supremacist fans. The letter presents itself as "yet another unequivocal denouncement by Ms. Swift of white supremacy and the alt-right", yet Herning is also warned publication of the letter would act as breach of copyright.

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