politics
Page: 65
As expected, former president Donald Trump announced another bid for the presidency on Tuesday (Nov. 15), and Bette Midler had more than a few reactions to the news.
Watching the one-term president give his speech at Mar-A-Lago, the actress didn’t exactly mince words while live-tweeting her thoughts, starting with, “Ugh. Piggy is speaking.”
“That’s #Trumpto you. He’s giving the same speech he gave in 2016. After a two year pandemic, and a million American lives lost, the rest of us have moved on. He is ossified. May he rot,” the Hocus Pocus 2 star continued, adding minutes later, “Excuse me. I’m going to be sick.”
After Trump finished his hour-long announcement, Midler gave her assessment of the remarks, writing, “He just handed us two more years of his #delusions and #drivel. #unbearable.” She also poked fun at the twice-impeached president’s new campaign slogan “Make America Glorious and Great Again,” tweeting, “IT’S OFFICIAL! The new name for its campaign is #MAGAGA! Congratulations to whoever got there first, let’s take it all the way!! #MAGAGA.”
Midler has long been an outspoken liberal and critic of Trump, but even she found herself in hot water this summer over making what some perceived as anti-trans comments on Twitter in the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade. At the time, the controversy ignited a discussion around the importance of using inclusive language, and the Tony winner insisted there was “no intention of anything exclusionary or transphobic” in her sentiments.
Read Midler’s tweetstorm about Trump below.
That’s #Trumpto you. He’s giving the same speech he gave in 2016. After a two year pandemic, and a million American lives lost, the rest of us have moved on. He is ossified. May he rot.— bettemidler (@BetteMidler) November 16, 2022
IT’S OFFICIAL! The new name for its campaign is #MAGAGA! Congratulations to whoever got there first, let’s take it all the way!! #MAGAGA— bettemidler (@BetteMidler) November 16, 2022
Donald Trump kicked off his third bid for the White House on Tuesday night (Nov. 15) at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and within an hour the twice-impeached one-term former president was already facing his latest threat of legal sanction.
In the midst of a nest of investigations into Trump’s actions before and during his tumultuous four-year term, the estate of late R&B/soul legend Isaac Hayes tweeted that it was exploring its legal options to stop the former reality star from using one of Hayes’ compositions at his campaign events. “Once again, the estate and family of Isaac Hayes DID NOT approve the use of ‘Hold On I’m Coming’ by Sam and Dave by Donald Trump at his 2024 Presidential announcement tonight,” read the tweet.
“We are exploring multiple legal options to stop this unauthorized use,” it warned. Hayes co-wrote the 1966 hit and in a subsequent tweet the estate added, “Stopping a politician from using your music is not always an easy task, but we are dedicated to making sure that Donald Trump does not continue to use ‘Hold on I’m Coming’ by written by Isaac Hayes an David Porter in further rallies and public appearances.”
As he launches his latest attempt to return to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. in the wake of a middling to poor showing by the large slate of candidates he endorsed in last week’s midterm elections, the warning from the Hayes estate is likely the least perilous legal threat facing the real estate mogul. Trump is facing a Dept. of Justice probe into the large collection of official documents he took from the White House after his failed 2020 re-election bid.
He is also facing two investigations in New York — one civil, one criminal — examining his Trump Organization for allegations of fraud, as well as a probe into his alleged role in the violent assault on the U.S. Capitol by a mob of his supporters on Jan. 6, 2021 and a criminal investigation into his attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
Trump, 76, repeatedly fell afoul of number of musical acts during his first presidential run in 2015-2016, as well as during his term as president and his 2020 campaign when he played their music at his rallies. On his way out of office after being defeated by Pres. Joe Biden, the Village People called out the “bully” ex-president for playing their gay anthem “Y.M.C.A.” one more time against their wishes at his sparsely attended farewell event on Jan. 20, 2021.
For years Trump ignored pleas from a long list of famous acts to cease and desist from using their music during his rallies and political events and in addition to the costumed disco act, the legacy manager for Laura Branigan took issue with Trump playing her hit “Gloria” at his final official appearance as well.
Over the five years of his campaigns and presidency, artists ranging from Adele to Bruce Springsteen, Elton John, R.E.M., Aerosmith, Panic! at the Disco, Guns N’ Roses, The Rolling Stones, Rihanna and the estates of Leonard Cohen, Tom Petty and Prince have vociferously objected to Trump playing their music at his rallies. At press time a spokesperson for Trump could not be reached for comment.
See the Hayes estate tweet below.
Stopping a politician from using your music is not always an easy task, but we are dedicated to making sure that Donald Trump does not continue to use “Hold on I’m Coming” by written by Isaac Hayes an David Porter in further rallies and public appearances.— Isaac Hayes (@isaachayes) November 16, 2022
Can you feel it creeping up on you? The co-hosts of The View analyzed the results of the 2022 midterm elections on Wednesday morning (Nov. 9) with a little help from Taylor Swift‘s Midnights.
“Now the votes are still being counted in many of yesterday’s midterm elections, but it looks like that ‘red tsunami’ didn’t quite materialize,” Whoopi Goldberg stated, making reference to the predicted GOP sweep of the election to introduce the Hot Topics segment.
While Ron DeSantis flipped Florida red with his win as governor, other congressional races saw Democrats like John Fetterman of Pennsylvania and Maggie Hassan beat far-right candidates backed by former president Donald Trump, and the show’s resident Republican co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin couldn’t help but make a reference to a fan-favorite track from Swift’s latest chart-topping album.
“Listen, I’m a Republican. I wanted good Republicans to win and I wanted bad Republicans to lose,” the freshman conservative voice at the table said before quipping, “I’m not losing sleep that Dr. Oz lost his race last night!
“This is actually the best I’ve felt about the country,” she continued, “because it was much more, [as] Taylor Swift would call a ‘Lavender Haze.’ This was no red wave.”
While Tay probably wasn’t thinking of the electoral map when she was writing “Lavender Haze” with help from Jack Antonoff and Zoe Kravitz, the Midnights opener debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 behind chart-topping lead single “Anti-Hero” in the same week the superstar set a new record as the first artist to ever dominate the entire Hot 100 top 10 in Billboard history. (This week, on the chart dated Nov. 12, the track remains in the top 10, dropping 2-6.)
Watch The View co-hosts dissect the “Lavender Haze” of the 2022 midterms below.
For the first time ever, Gen Z is represented in Congress — and so are Harries and Arianators. After Maxwell Frost was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday night (Nov. 8), fans discovered a couple old tweets proving that the 25-year-old Florida Democrat is a fan of both Harry Styles and Ariana Grande.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Born in 1997, Frost made history on Midterm election night by becoming the first member of Gen Z to take a seat in either the House or the Senate — a feat that, for some, is probably overshadowed only by his love for a couple of this generation’s biggest pop stars. Fans quickly discovered after his triumph that Frost had tweeted a photo in 2014 showing himself standing behind a barricade with a crowd of excited fans.
Also captured in the photo is a long-haired Harry Styles, still a member of One Direction at the time. “Yea….you could say we’re friends now @Harry_Styles,” Frost captioned the tweet.
A year before that, Frost tweeted that he’d met Ariana Grande, writing: “Ariana Grande at Starbucks !!! IM SO HAPPY SHE IS SO AMAZING TALKING WITH US.”
Naturally, many fans were ecstatic to discover that both their political and musical interests were now represented on a national level. “HISTORIC: FIRST DIRECTIONER ELECTED TO CONGRESS,” one wrote, retweeting Frost’s photo with Harry.
“An Arianator going to Congress omg I won,” another replied to Frost’s tweet about the “Positions” singer.
Now Swifties, don’t feel left out. In addition to backing gun control, Medicare for all and climate action, Frost also supports Taylor Swift. Just a few weeks ago, he revealed on Twitter that his favorite song by Swift is “You Belong With Me” — “Taylor’s version of course.”
you belong with me! Taylor’s version of course— Maxwell Alejandro Frost (@MaxwellFrostFL) October 1, 2022
Florida’s newest 10th Congressional District representative is also a proven fan of The 1975. Hours after he won his election, he tweeted: “I’VE BEEN CAMPAIGNING FOR OVER A YEAR THIS IS WILD!! I’M GONNA SEE @the1975 ON THURSDAY TO CELEBRATE!!!”
I’VE BEEN CAMPAIGNING FOR OVER A YEAR THIS IS WILD!! I’M GONNA SEE @the1975 ON THURSDAY TO CELEBRATE!!!— Maxwell Alejandro Frost (@MaxwellFrostFL) November 9, 2022
See fan reactions to Maxwell Frost’s tweets about Harry Styles and Ariana Grande below:
Chris Redd opened up in a new interview on Tuesday (Nov. 8) about having a front row seat to Kanye West‘s pro-Trump diatribe on Saturday Night Live back in 2018.
In case you don’t remember, after performing “Ghost Town” as the episode’s musical guest, the rapper launched into a political rant once the cameras stopped rolling, telling the audience, “The Blacks want always Democrats… you know it’s like the plan they did, to take the fathers out the home and put them on welfare… does anybody know about that? That’s a Democratic plan. There’s so many times I talk to, like, a white person about this and they say, ‘How could you like Trump? He’s racist.’ Well, uh, if I was concerned about racism I would’ve moved out of America a long time ago,” while wearing a red MAGA hat.
However, Redd revealed to The Daily Beast that Ye’s speech wasn’t exactly off-the-cuff. “I remember the dress rehearsal where he tried his dress rehearsal version of that, and I heard it, but there was music playing still so people were like sitting there and vibing,” the comedian told the outlet. “But I was listening to his words, and I was like, bro, he’s about to pull some bulls–t. And I’m not about to be on stage for that. I’m not going to entertain this. Like, I’ve been a fan of Kanye my whole life. And I miss the old Kanye.
“He came in there wanting to shoot everybody — verbally — and I just felt that was disrespectful, because we’re all grown adults,” Redd continued. “And now all of us don’t like you. He just came in there with a chip on his shoulder, ready to talk s–t.”
Redd departed SNL at the close of the 2021-2022 season. West has not been invited back to the late-night sketch series since his rant on the Season 44 premiere.
Racers, start your engines — and may the best world leader win!
In a new trailer for the forthcoming inaugural season of Canada’s Drag Race: Canada Vs. The World, fans of the franchise got a sneak peek of the upcoming competition and just a few of the special guests set to appear on the show. One of them just so happens to be the Right Honorable Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada.
This marks the first time in the history of the RuPaul’s Drag Race franchise where a world leader has been featured as a guest star on the show. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi appeared on the latest installment of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars, where she implored viewers and the contestants to vote in the midterm elections.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
The new trailer also unveils a bevy of other guest stars set to appear on the show — Canada’s Drag Race: Canada Vs. The World will feature guest judges including Anjulie, Gary Janetti, Hollywood Jade, and even past winners from the franchise like Monét X Change and Priyanka.
Much like its predecessor UK Vs. The World, the new season will see queens from across the international iterations of the show coming back to duke it out for the crown. Queens from RuPaul’s Drag Race (Ra’Jah O’Hara & Silky Nutmeg Ganache), Canada’s Drag Race (Icesis Couture, Kendall Gender, Rita Baga & Stephanie Prince), RuPaul’s Drag Race UK (Vanity Milan & Victoria Scone) and RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under (Anita Wigl’it) are set to appear.
Canada’s Drag Race: Canada Vs. The World premieres Friday, Nov. 18 at 9pm ET/6pm PT, on WOW Presents Plus. Check out the full trailer below:
Taylor Swift is taking a break from her regularly scheduled Midnights programming to let fans know how important it is to head over to the polls and vote in Tuesday’s (Nov. 8) midterm elections. In the singer’s Instagram Story, she made a passionate plea to her followers about this election’s importance and cited all the issues voters have at stake.
“Remember to vote today! It’s Election Day in the United States. This year, more than any year in modern history, the Midterm Elections will affect our access to fundamental rights, basic reproductive healthcare, and our ability to make our government work for us,” Swift wrote in a text image.
She continued, “Your vote is your voice, which is why it’s so important that you use it. If you haven’t voted early, make a plan to vote before the polls close! See who’s on your ballot and find your polling place at vote.org.”
Swift is just one of the latest celebrities to stress the importance of voting in the midterm elections this year. Billie Eilish put out a similar statement to her followers via Instagram on Nov. 5. “I want to explain why I am voting this year and how important I think it is for you to vote,” Eilish said in the video. “Our rights, our freedoms, and our futures are on the line, and if we don’t show up, there is a good chance we will see a national ban on abortion, with no exceptions … They also wanna take away the freedom to marry who we love, restrict voting rights, and enact laws that threaten the progress that must be made on climate change… It scares me.”
While Swift did not name who she plans to vote for, her friend Selena Gomez endorsed Beto O’Rourke in this year’s midterms. Kacey Musgraves and Harry Styles also endorsed O’Rourke, while other musicians like Barbra Streisand, Katy Perry and more gave other political candidates their seal of approval. (See the full list of musician endorsements here.)
Read Taylor Swift’s Instagram Story before it expires here.
Maren Morris is helping encourage voters to get to the polls for the Nov. 8 midterm election in a new ad for the Democratic National Committee. Morris narrates the ad, which includes footage from the music video for her 2019 hit “Girl.” That music video previously earned a CMA Awards nomination for music video of the year.
“This is personal. Your vote is your voice,” Morris says in the spot as the camera focuses on the singer-songwriter in a guitar shop, sitting with her back to the camera and playing an acoustic guitar. “It is the only thing that is standing in the way of having the right to choose, or having the choice be made for you.”
The ad ends with a message for viewers to visit iwillvote.com, a site that identifies voting and drop-off locations, helps people check their voters registration, register to vote, and learn more about casting a ballot.
Morris has long been outspoken about her social and political beliefs, endorsing Joe Biden in the run-up to the 2020 presidential election during the virtual “I Will Vote” Democratic fundraiser.
As “a proud Texan now living in Nashville, Tenn.,” Morris discussed her decision via a three-minute video later uploaded to Instagram at the time. “Coming from a Southern family with a conservative background, throughout my childhood, I was always taught to treat people with respect and dignity, no matter their race, their religion, their sexual orientation, and yes, even their political party,” she explained in 2020. “But like a lot of us, I’ve been in perpetual shock watching what’s happened to our country these last few years. We’ve been divided and pitted against one another.”
She added, “I voted early for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, and for Democrats down the ticket here in Tennessee because we need leadership that is kind, compassionate and that cares,” she continued. “Leadership that will unite us to overcome this pandemic, to put us back to work again, end systemic racism and work every day to ensure we leave this world to our kids in better shape than we found it.”
Following the June 24 ruling from the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that provided federal protection to access to abortion, Morris provided a statement to Rolling Stone, describing the careful planning she and husband Ryan Hurd did in welcoming their son Hayes in 2020.
“As mothers do, I really tried to think of every detail I could before he came into this world to keep him safe; pediatrician, hospital, crib, nursery sound machine, even future school he would someday go to,” she said. “Every choice, every decision, a thoughtful one.”
She added, “Today, I hold my 2-year-old son with tears streaming down my face because all my love and planning still wasn’t enough to protect him from being born into a country who could do this to women,” the singer added. “Tomorrow I will fight, but today I am grieving.”
Morris’ 2022 album, Humble Quest, is nominated for album of the year heading into this week’s CMA Awards, set to be held Nov. 9 at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena and airing on ABC.
Watch her new spot for the DNC above.
Cher used her social media prowess over the weekend to encourage her four million Twitter followers to vote in the upcoming 2022 midterm election.
In a pair of videos, the pop icon focused in on supporting two female candidates: Governor Kathy Hochul of New York and Senator Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada. “New Yorkers, it’s election season. Right now you have a Trump supporter trying to oust your Democratic governor, Kathy Hochul,” she said in one. “This man, Lee Zeldin, has riled up the MAGA base to support him and the polls show it could be a close race.
“New York, I love you with all my heart,” Cher continued. “I have spent half of my life there and I would hate to see a guy who wants to ban abortion, frack the state and have ‘Don’t Say Gay’ policies in schools become the governor of your great state.”
In the second video about Sen. Cortez Masto, the Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! star reminds Nevada voters that, “In this election, what happens in Vegas won’t stay in Vegas,” as the results from the purple swing state will inevitably affect the balance of the Senate, and thereby the entire country. Both of Cher’s posts directed followers to iwillvote.com, a website with state-by-state voting resources put together by the Democratic National Committee.
Back in September, Cher also hit the catwalk during Paris Fashion Week by walking in the Balmain finale hand-in-hand with designer Olivier Rousteing.
Watch Cher’s political PSAs for New York and Nevada below.
With Election Day less than 24 hours away, Selena Gomez took to social media on Monday morning (Nov. 7) to encourage her followers in Texas to vote for Beto O’Rourke.
“I had the pleasure of meeting @betoorourke a few years ago and was so impressed by him. For those of you in my home state of Texas, please vote for him!” the singer wrote on her Instagram Stories.
Along with the message, the star also shared an official campaign video from O’Rourke’s own Instagram feed, in which the candidate declares, “After eight years, it’s time to turn the page on Greg Abbott and vote for change in Texas!” during a rally in Fort Worth.
This isn’t the first time Gomez has spoken out in recent weeks to support a particular candidate, either. At the end of October, she also stumped for Democrat Stacey Abrams in the hotly contested race for governor of Georgia.
Meanwhile, when it comes to O’Rourke’s gubernatorial campaign, Harry Styles also publicly supported the Democratic challenger by placing a “BETO” sticker on his guitar during his recent tour stop in Austin. (Styles has also helped register more than 54,000 new voters ahead of the midterms by partnering with HeadCount in the organization’s latest “Good to Vote” initiative.)
When she’s not busy firing up her fans to vote, Gomez has been celebrating the premiere of her new Apple TV+ documentary Selena Gomez: My Mind and Me, which arrived last week along with a brand new track — the vulnerable ballad “My Mind & Me.”
Check out Selena’s endorsement of Beto on her Instagram Story before it expires.