Long time country artist who recently has been trying to make a comeback with her first album in over 10 years, Shania Twain, is getting a lot of backlash after making some comments in an interview stating that she would have voted for President Trump had she been an American. As a Canadian, she did not vote in the 2016 US election but told The Guardian: "I would have voted for him because, even though he was offensive, he seemed honest," she said. "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 bull****. I would have voted for a feeling that it was transparent. And politics has a reputation of not being that, right?" "Do you want straight or polite? I would have voted for a feeling that is transparent."
The 52 year old has been out of the spotlight for quite some time dealing with some personal stuff. She got divorced, battled Lyme disease, and dealt with some vocal problems/issues. This comeback of hers would mark her first tour since 2002. Her latest country album, "Now" came out on September 29, 2017. She was making the rounds on the media circuit to promote not only her new album but her upcoming tour which kicks off on May 3rd in Tacoma, WA. This interview with The Guardian wasn't an interview that was geared towards politics at all and nor is Shania even that much of a political animal, it just so happened to randomly come up in the interview, a question about the election.
Twitter went wild and was fairly upset about Twain's comments in the interview and vocally expressed their displeasement on the platform. Here are some of the tweets:
I personally feel bad for Shania. She's just out there trying to be authentic and express her personal opinion but she forgot the number one rule, never bring up your personal political opinion unless you are a politician or in government. As we've seen and see here, your opinion can and will hurt your career in some way and you have to be prepared for that. People are passionate about their political views and if your statements go against their thoughts or beliefs, those people are going to boycott you and or choose to not buy your product or see you because you don't share in the same values or beliefs as them. That's why it's best to just not open your mouth. Now I love Shania and maybe I'm the exception but I'm not going to not listen to her based off her comments. This doesn't bother me. I believe you are entitled to your own opinion and I respect that. Plus I don't think what she said is that outrageous. It's not like she's out there supporting something heinous or appauling. Although I suppose in this case some thinks that's exactly what she's doing. Due to all the backlash, Twain had to issue an apology in the form of 4 tweets. She back pedaled. I think she should have just stood by her statements but clearly she was afraid of losing those fans out there that don't like Trump and now are not going to buy her product. Ultimately her music is more important to her than her political views.
Should Shania be getting this much backlash for just stating that she would have voted for President Trump? Unfortunately it doens't matter if she should or shouldn't have because it's happening. This is just an example that if you are a public figure, you should never express your political opinion unless you don't care if it affects your product or status. Yes, it is sad that in this day and age for a country that is supposed to have freedom of speech, while that doesn't come with physical punishment like other countries, we do suffer verbal punishment from our own citizens. The government won't get you, the public will. POTUS Trump has changed the status quo and out the window is any respect for personal opinion. Republicans or Trump supporters cannot go out in public in certain areas without getting harassed or criticized. The respect is gone and Trump created that because of his volitile personality that irks people. People have made up in their mind that supporting Trump is like supporting racism, white supremacy, and neo-nazism and that's unfortunate. Hopefully this doesn't fully crush Shania's comeback.
-Producer Lightning