People should forgive Shania Twain for endorsing Donald Trump, Queer Eye’s Karamo Brown says
Queer Eye’s Karamo Brown (Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for GLAAD)
Shania Twain angered many LGBT fans after saying she would have voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 US presidential election.
The country singer, who did not get a vote as she is a Canadian citizen, told the Guardian newspaper that she is a fan of the sitting president because “he seemed honest.”
Fans were quick to slam Twain after the comments emerged, with many taking to Twitter to ask why she backed a politician who has pursued anti-LGBT policies.
Now Karamo Brown, star of Netflix hit Queer Eye, has said the LGBT community should forgive Twain for the comments.
Karamo Brown (Getty)
Speaking to Mark Malkin, the cultural guru said: “As a community, we are very forgiving.”
He added: “It’s in our nature, because we have been treated so [badly] by people in our family and our friends who didn’t accept us as we go on our journeys that we’ve learned how to be empathetic and to forgive.”
Brown continued by pointing out that, unlike Twain, who as a Canadian did not get a vote, “many of our friends and family members did make that vote.”
Many fans were less forgiving of Twain backing Trump, who has prominently backed anti-transgender policies and ignored gay and bisexual issues since moving into the White House.
Singer Shania Twain is honored with the 2442nd Star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame (Getty)
In one tweet liked thousands of times, one fan wrote that “her gay icon status is over, it’s cancelled. officially.”
In the controversial UK press interview, Twain said: “I would have voted for him because, even though he was offensive, he seemed honest.
“Do you want straight or polite? Not that you shouldn’t be able to have both. If I were voting, I just don’t want (BS). I would have voted for a feeling that it was transparent.
“And politics has a reputation of not being that, right?”
Twain soon backtracked on the controversial comments as thousands of negative tweets poured in from around the world.
She labelled her answer as “awkward” in a Twitter apology.
Shania Twain (Getty)
Claiming the endorsement of Trump was cited without context, she wrote: “I would like to apologise to anybody I have offended in a recent interview with the Guardian relating to the American President.
“The question caught me off guard. As a Canadian, I regret answering this unexpected question without giving my response more context.
“I am passionately against discrimination of any kind and hope it’s clear from the choices I have made, and the people I stand with, that I do not hold any common moral beliefs with the current President,” she wrote.
Twain continued: “I was trying to explain, in response to a question about the election, that my limited understanding was that the President talked to a portion of America like an accessible person they could relate to, as he was NOT a politician.
“My answer was awkward, but certainly should not be taken as representative of my values nor does it mean I endorse him. I make music to bring people together. My path will always be one of inclusivity, as my history shows.”
The singer returned to music in 2017 after a 15-year break due to a disease that attacked her vocal chords. She is currently preparing for a world tour.
Her album, Now, debuted at number one in the US, Canada, UK and Australia, more than two decades after she became one of the best-selling female singers of all time.
