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WASHINGTON: Music superstar Lady Gaga got involved in an unlikely Twitter feud on Sunday (November 1) with President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign after she was accused of being anti-fracking.
Democratic challenger Joe Biden announced that Gaga would appear with him Monday night at a rally in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a state crucial to victory on November 3.
Trump’s team responded immediately, criticizing the joint appearance.
“Nothing exposes Joe Biden’s disdain for Pennsylvania’s forgotten workers like campaigning with anti-fracking activist Lady Gaga,” said the campaign’s communications director, Tim Murtaugh, in a statement posted on Twitter.
“This desperate effort to generate enthusiasm for his lackluster candidacy is actually a stick in the eye for the 600,000 Pennsylvanians who work in the fracking industry,” Murtaugh said, adding that Biden has “repeatedly promised activists from left “who will end fracking if he takes office.
Fracking – the extraction of gas and oil from deep underground rocks by injecting water and chemicals – boomed in the mid-2000s thanks to new technology.
By 2014, it made the United States the world’s largest oil and gas producer.
But its costs are high: Drilling triggers earthquakes, while research links its air emissions and water pollution to a myriad of health problems.
It also contributes to global warming when methane escapes from drill holes and becomes a very powerful greenhouse gas.
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Biden favors a ban on new fracking on public lands and the country’s transition to renewables, but has said he would not completely eliminate fracking.
Lady Gaga responded to Murtaugh, tweeting: “HEY TIM HEY @realDonaldTrump SO HAPPY I’M GLAD TO LIVE THE FREE RENTAL ON YOUR HEAD. #BidenHarris.”
The Grammy winner attached an image of Murtaugh’s statement, decorated with animated stickers that read “LOL” and “Vote Biden”, as well as the message “Heeeey Donald … #WINNER (also what is fracking?) PA works … We (heart emoji) You. “
Murtaugh thanked Gaga for sharing the statement with her 82 million followers and said she hoped “a lot of people in PA will 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 “DONE WITH HIM” and “GET HIM QUEEN”.
Biden currently leads Trump by an average of 4.3 percentage points in Pennsylvania, according to RealClearPolitics, two days before the election.
