Billie Eilish's Nashville Concert Speech on Trump's Election Win in Full
Billie Eilish branded Donald Trump 's presidential election win a "war on women" in a social media post shared hours before she spoke extensively about the result at her concert in Nashville on November 6.
The singer-songwriter counted herself among a throng of celebrities who backed Vice President Kamala Harris in the hotly contested race that resulted in Republican Trump being declared the victor hours after polls closed on Tuesday.
In a concession speech delivered from her alma mater Howard University, Harris mentioned a touchstone of her campaign—women's reproductive rights.
"I will never give up the fight for a future where Americans can pursue their dreams, ambitions and aspirations. Where the women of America have the freedom to make decisions about their own body and not have their government telling them what to do," she said.
Harris made it a point to address the young people watching her speech.
"To the young people who are watching, it is okay to feel sad and disappointed but please know it's going to be OK," she said. "On the campaign, I would often say, 'When we fight, We win.' But here's the thing, sometimes the fight takes a while. That doesn't mean we won't win.
"The important thing is don't ever give up. Don't ever stop trying to make the world a better place. You have power. And don't you ever listen when anyone tells you something is impossible because it has never been done before."
While not naming Trump, Eilish made her feelings clear about the election results on Wednesday, when she wrote in an Instagram Story post: "It's a war on women."
Hours later, Eilish took to the stage at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena as part of her Hit Me Hard and Soft Tour. There, she spoke further about the election result.
Billie Eilish's Nashville Concert Speech
Per The Tennessean, Eilish addressed the election results midway through her show.
"Waking up this morning, I kinda couldn't fathom doing a show on this day," she is quoted as telling the crowd. "But, the longer the day went on I kinda had this feeling of it's such a privilege I get to do this with you guys and that we have this in a time that... I just love you so much and I want you to know that you're safe with me and you're protected here and you're safe in this room."
Introducing her 2021 track "Your Power," the musician went on: "The song that we're about to do is a song that my bother Finneas and I wrote.
"It's about the abuse that exists in this world upon women and a lot of the experiences that I have gone through and that people I know have gone through. And, to tell you the truth, I've never met one single woman who doesn't have a story of abuse."
Explaining that the song addresses some of her personal experiences, Eilish said: "I've been taken advantage of. And I've been... my boundaries were crossed, to say it politely."
"Now a person who is a convicted... uh, so many things ... let's say a convicted predator, let's say that, someone who hates women so, so deeply is about to be president of the United States of America," she told concertgoers.
"And, so, this song is for all the women out there. I love you, I support you."
Newsweek has contacted a representative of Trump via email for comment.
Trump's Lawsuits, Court Cases
Writer E. Jean Carroll won two lawsuits against Trump over her claim that he raped her at a New York City department store in the 1990s. He was found liable for defamation and sexual abuse, ordered to pay Carroll a total of $88.3 million. Trump denies Carroll's claim and has since appealed.
While Trump was found civilly liable for sexual abusing Carroll rather than raping her, Judge Lewis Kaplan ruled that the rape claim was "substantially true" while dismissing Trump's 2023 defamation lawsuit against Carroll.
Trump's appeals of the Carroll suits are still pending. In September, the former president and Carroll both attended a New York City hearing over a potential new trial, although the future of the case remains uncertain.
The president-elect's return to power may have little bearing on the case since it is a civil rather than criminal matter. A 1997 Supreme Court ruling found that lawsuits against sitting presidents can proceed if they do not involve actions that the president took while in office.
However, Trump's two pending criminal matters—felony election subversion cases in Georgia and at the federal level—are all but certain to be dismissed or at least set aside due to his election victory, since sitting presidents cannot be criminally prosecuted under the law.
Trump will likely be unable to reverse his unrelated 34 felony convictions for falsifying business records in New York, as presidents do not have the power to pardon themselves or anyone else for state crimes. He is due to be sentenced later this month.
