Democratic presidential candidate Kirsten Gillibrand has decided to remove a song featuring XXXTentacion from her official playlist.
On Tuesday, the New York Times published a piece where they evaluated each 2020 presidential nominee's playlist. For her list, New York Democratic senator Kirsten Gillibrand incorporated the most women artists than any other candidate. Yet, alongside acts like the Dixie Chicks, Alicia Keys, and Lizzo was the late-XXXTentacion. The song was "Scared Of The Dark (Remix)" from the Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse soundtrack and although his feature isn't credited, it still caused a bit of controversy.
Gillibrand has built her campaign on highlighting the disenfranchisement of women. In the same Times article, she pushed for the resignation of Al Franken, stating, "others may regret standing with women, or back down from fighting for them. I never will." She's also accused Donald Trump of waging a "war against women."
But, at the time of his death, XXXTentacion was accused of beating his former girlfriend and confessed to domestic abuse and violent crimes in a secretly recorded tape. Some critics felt that by claiming to enjoy this song, Gillibrand is contradicting her stance. Since the seemingly hypocritical music choice was pointed out, Gillibrand has edited her playlist and removed the record.
