Country star, Canadian citizen and Swiss resident Shania Twain did not vote in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, but she has indicated that she would have voted for Donald Trump if she had the opportunity to do so.
In a new interview with The Guardian, the singer discussed her long absence from recording and performing in the 2000s, why she favors certain curse words, her difficult childhood, the sexual abuse her father inflicted on her, her marriage — and an abrupt shift to American politics when she mentioned her vote would’ve gone to the Republican candidate that November.
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“I would have voted for him because, even though he was offensive, he seemed honest,” she says of Trump. “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 bullshit. I would have voted for a feeling that it was transparent. And politics has a reputation of not being that, right?”
Sunday evening (April 22), Twain addressed her comments with a statement posted on social media, clarifying that she does “not hold any common moral beliefs with the current President”:
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 (1/4)
— Shania Twain (@ShaniaTwain) April 22, 2018
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 (2/4)
— Shania Twain (@ShaniaTwain) April 22, 2018
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 (3/4)
— Shania Twain (@ShaniaTwain) April 22, 2018
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. (4/4)
— Shania Twain (@ShaniaTwain) April 22, 2018
Twain recently made an appearance backstage at Coachella. She will launch her North American tour May 3 in Tacoma, Wash.