Kid Rock, Azealia Banks, Hulk Hogan, Tila Tequila, and Aaron Carter. That may sound like the most random dinner party ever or maybe a future cast of Dancing With The Stars. But nope, it's actually the list of celebrities who have endorsed Donald Trump. Over the weekend, Carter vocalized support for the Republican hopeful on Twitter, and let's just say people were not pleased. Seriously, there's no way the 28-year-old could have foreseen the onslaught of criticism he'd receive. It all began on Saturday with a simple tweet:
Does America want to have a president who FOLLOWS or someone who leads? I vote For @realdonaldtrump
Soon after, the "Aaron's Party" singer's Twitter mentions were flooded with angry responses and he took it upon himself to reply to individual messages. It appears that most of the outrage stemmed from Trump's statement about considering overturning gay marriage, which seemingly contradicts Carter's previous support of the LGBT community. When people began calling him out for this, Carter insisted that he doesn't support everything the presidential hopeful stands for, especially when it comes to LGBT rights and immigration reform. Instead, he is much more interested in Trump's business-like approach to politics.
Still, the negativity did not die down. He continued to defend himself and pointed out that it's unfair to "bully" him because of his political beliefs.
Honestly, Carter is 100 percent right in that regard. No one deserves to be bullied on social media or elsewhere. You can agree or disagree with his political opinions, but no need to be hostile about it. I will say that Carter dropping F-bombs left and right probably wasn't the best conflict-resolution skill, though. But death threats are never OK, period. You can stop listening to "I Want Candy" or unfollow him on Twitter — those would be much more peaceful ways to protest.
By the end of this whole exchange, Carter may have changed his tune. He repeatedly stated that if Trump isn't supportive of the LGBT community, then he's not supporting Trump. In the singer's defense, Trump's stance on LGBT issues is complicated, and in some ways, seems to contradict itself. He's previously vocalized his support of anti-discrimination laws in the work place and told Meet The Press in 2015 that a worker's sexuality should not be a reason for them to be fired. But most recently, Trump said he would "strongly consider" appointing judges to overturn the same-sex marriage decision during an episode of Fox News Sunday.
So, does this mean that he's no longer Team Trump? Admittedly I'm pretty confused by the stream of thoughts there, but one thing is clear — Carter has nothing but love for the LGBT community. At least there's that silver lining.
Since my head is spinning from all that back-and-forth, I'm going to think back to happier times by playing the video below on repeat.
Ahhh, the good old days!
