ToplineGrammy nominee Tate McRae is continuing to take heat for her perceived association with the MAGA movement, after she refused to outright deny the speculation in a recent Variety interview in which she pointed to her support of LGBTQ+ and women's causes and said she thinks it's “pretty obvious” what side of the aisle she stands on.Tate McRae attends the 2026 Met Gala.Getty Images for The Met Museum/VogueKey FactsMcRae was asked about the assumption—fueled largely by her rumored relationship with hockey star Jack Hughes and recent collaboration with country singer Morgan Wallen—and responded, “I like to say my piece through organizations I support," reportedly in reference to The Trevor Project, which focuses on suicide prevention for LGBTQ+ youth, and the Global Fund for Women, which supports gender equality movements. McRae, a Forbes 30 Under 30 alumna, said she thinks 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.”The singer has since been slammed for refusing to outright state that she’s not affiliated with President Donald Trump’s Make American Great Again movement, with online commenters suggesting her silence speaks “volumes.” Key backgroundMcRae, who is Canadian, has been dodging online speculation she's associated with MAGA for more than a year, since she scored her first Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 song by duetting with Morgan Wallen on “What I Want." Wallen has never publicly endorsed MAGA, but his music is widely considered to be "Trump-coded," while he's strongly associated with conservative audiences and has a history of "racial behavior.” McRae is also rumored to have been dating New Jersey Devils hockey player Jack Hughes since last November. The athlete, who also played for the U.S. Olympic hockey team last winter, was at the center of a controversy that saw the men’s team members laugh at a sexist comment about the women’s team made by Trump. McRae was slammed for appearing to “like” “a post from Hughes’ brother and teammate Quinn Hughes that referenced the controversy, and took heat after the Hughes brothers wore red-and-white "USA 45-47" hats while visiting Trump at the White House. CHIEF CRITICSOnline fan discussions dating back to the March 2025 release of “What I Want” show commenters saying things like “something about her just screams republican,” and joking that she should “join MAGA.” Since the Variety interview Monday, online groups have only piled on. Reddit commenters called her a “MAGA coward” for refusing to denounce the movement, with another adding, “She may not be explicitly MAGA, but she surely does not care enough about anything to be firmly against it, which is MAGA enough for me, I suppose.” On X, one user likened McRae’s handling of the allegations to how Sydney Sweeney responded to critics of her controversial “good jeans” American Eagle advert that led to months of blowback as critics said it evoked eugenics. Sweeney claimed to have barely noticed the backlash and said she didn’t think she needed to comment on criticism claiming the advert was making light of genetic superiority: “I think that when I have an issue that I want to speak about, people will hear,” she said. While all eyes were on her amid the backlash, it was revealed Sweeney registered as a Republican voter in Florida a few months before Donald Trump was elected in 2024.further readingForbesSydney Sweeney Says American Eagle Controversy And Trump Support ‘Didn’t Affect Me’By Mary Whitfill RoeloffsForbesAmber Rose Endorses Trump: Here’s Other Celebrities Who Have Switched Sides Or Won’t Endorse A CandidateBy Zachary Folk