Tate McRae, the 23-year-old pop star currently on the cover of Variety's Power of Young Hollywood issue, has found herself at the centre of an online political firestorm — one she says she never saw coming.

The speculation, reported by Forbes on 4 August 2026, links the singer to the MAGA movement through two threads: her collaboration with country artist Morgan Wallen and a rumoured relationship with New Jersey Devils centre Jack Hughes.

Wallen was captured on video in 2021 using a racial slur while intoxicated, an incident that drew widespread condemnation and temporarily pulled him from country radio. McRae collaborated with him on the single "What I Want," which topped the Billboard Hot 100 — the flagship US singles chart — giving McRae her first and only Number One. She told Rolling Stone she had wanted to make a country song and "didn't realize how much a song would be connected to all the other factors, and it really shocked me," adding that she had never met Wallen in person. Asked whether she regretted the collaboration, McRae said: "I don't think you should regret anything in life, because it gives you so much clarity" (Rolling Stone).

The second thread runs through Hughes. McRae was linked to the Devils centre late last year. Hughes captained the U.S. men's national ice hockey team to its first gold medal in 46 years, after which the squad accepted an invitation to Donald Trump's State of the Union address — an invitation the U.S. women's Olympic hockey team declined. Hughes was photographed smiling alongside teammates in a picture with Trump at the White House. He later said of the visit: "When you get the chance to go to White House and meet the president, we're proud to be Americans, and that's so patriotic" (ESPN).

McRae addressed the swirling speculation in an Instagram post, noting that it had grown out of both the Wallen collaboration and the Hughes rumours. In her Variety interview, published 3 August, she said her songs have long elicited online speculation about their subjects.

When asked directly why she avoids commenting on politics — particularly around Trump and MAGA — McRae offered: "I think it's pretty obvious what kind of person I am and the things I support" (Rolling Stone). She has not publicly endorsed any political candidate or movement.

Her recorded affiliations point elsewhere. McRae supports the Trevor Project, an organisation focused on ending suicide among young LGBTQ+ people, and the Global Fund for Women, a gender equality foundation.

For a 23-year-old artist whose public profile is built on pop hits and arena touring, the political scrutiny marks a different kind of attention — one where collaboration choices and personal associations are read as ideological statements regardless of intent. McRae's own Instagram bio lists her as "Creative Director, Lighting & Production Designer" for her tour, a reminder that the conversation online has moved some distance from the stage.