Shania Twain Apologizes After Saying She Would've Voted for Trump

Shania Twain is opening up about her political views.

In a new interview with The Guardian, the Canadian singer revealed she would have voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 election, saying she appreciates what she describes as the president’s —sometimes controversial — honesty.

“I would have voted for him because, even though he was offensive, he seemed honest,” she said 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 b——-.”

Continued Twain to The Guardian, “I would have voted for a feeling that it was transparent. And politics has a reputation of not being that, right?”

Fans quickly flocked to social media to react to the news.

The singer has since issued a statement to PEOPLE about her comments, saying, “I would like to apologize to anybody I have offended in a recent interview with The Guardian relating to the American president.”

A post shared by Shania Twain (@shaniatwain) on Apr 22, 2018 at 4:37pm PDT

“The question caught me off guard,” said Twain. “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.”

Continued Twain, “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.”

In The Guardian interview, Twain, 52, also discussed her stepfather, Jerry Twain, who allegedly abused her physically, emotionally and sexually, she revealed.

“I’m not going to go into details about it. I don’t mind saying it, because I do think it’s important that people understand you can survive these things,” she said.

Twain — who told The Guardian she never knew her biological father – claimed the abuse began at a young age.

Both Twain’s stepfather and mother were killed in a car accident when she was in her early 20s.


“Around the age of 10. I feel the sexual abuse goes hand in hand with the physical and psychological abuse when it’s somebody you know,” said Twain to the outlet. “I learned to block it out. Abusers need to manipulate you, whether it’s before or after, and what I said to myself is: ‘OK, there’s something wrong with this person and that person is not well.’ ”

She continued to The Guardian: “I did feel sorry for myself a lot as a kid. It was either go to Children’s Aid and get saved now or…I weighed it up and thought: ‘If I go to Children’s Aid, we’ll all get separated,’ and I just couldn’t bear that, so we all stayed together for better or for worse.”

And of her marriage to Frederic Thiebaud, the singer said she’s happier than ever: “It’s a passionate love on every level.”

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