After having her hits reach the top of the charts this summer, American singer Chappell Roan found herself at the heart of a controversy by criticizing the government. To the point of having to clarify on Wednesday that she would nevertheless vote for Vice President Kamala Harris against Donald Trump.
It all started last week with an interview with the Guardian, a British daily newspaper, in which the 26-year-old artist explained that he had “a lot of trouble with the current government” of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and did not want to publicly support a candidate.
“There are problems on both sides. I encourage people to use their critical thinking,” she adds.
A controversy, accusing her of playing into the hands of the Republicans, swelled to the point that she posted a video on TikTok on Tuesday to clarify that her tendency “to question authority and leaders” did not mean that she would vote for Donald Trump.
On Wednesday, visibly exasperated by the comments received, she added in another video that she would vote for Kamala Harris without fully supporting her and without being satisfied with the choice offered to her, refusing to put her name to the service of a cause in which she does not have “complete confidence”.
“One option is clearly better than the other, but I hope (…) that you will not be satisfied with it,” she adds, calling on her fans to vote, to get involved and to question their leaders.
She added that she despised Donald Trump but was also disappointed by the Democratic Party’s position on LGBT+ people, Palestinians and “all marginalized communities in the world.”
Openly queer, she had already declined an invitation earlier this year to perform at the White House for a Pride Month event, to protest US support for Israel in its war in Gaza.
Kamala Harris’ campaign has repeatedly covered Chappell Roan songs to accompany videos of the candidate on social media.
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