Kelly Clarkson endorses Ron Paul, gets hit hard on Twitter
Kelly Clarkson delves into political opinion and finds not everyone agrees with her. CREDIT: AP
When it comes to endorsements, everyone looks to “American Idol,” right? They at least have the “vote early, vote often” concept down pat.
Kelly Clarkson tweeted her support for Libertarian-leaning Ron Paul early Thursday and set off a maelstrom. Here’s the Tweet:
I love Ron Paul. I liked him a lot during the last republican nomination and no one gave him a chance. If he wins the nomination for the Republican party in 2012 he’s got my vote. Too bad he probably won’t.
Some Paul opponents began attacking her selection, noting that he had a newsletter out years ago that featured commentary against gays and various races. He has said he didn’t write them and isn’t racist or homophobic. She responded thusly:
I am really sorry if I have offended anyone. Obviously that was not my intent. I do not support racism. I support gay rights, straight rights, women’s rights, men’s rights, white/black/purple/orange rights. I like Ron Paul because he believes in less government and letting the people (all of us) make the decisions and mold our country. That is all. Out of all of the Republican nominees, he’s my favorite
As more people kept hitting her hard, she fought back in a very reasonable manner:
Man my eyes have been opened to so much hate tonight. If y’all ever disagree with something I say please don’t feel the need to attack me. I will listen to what you say and any articles or viewpoints you have when you say it with respect. Being hateful is not a healthy way to get people to see or hear you. I was raised to respect people and their decisions and beliefs and I hope you will grant me the same decency. If you don’t agree with me simply unfollow me. It’s really that easy. I hope you don’t because I would love the chance to hear what you have to say but if you’re so blinded by hate you can’t seek peace and progress then that is your unfortunate prerogative.
Join my Facebook fan page and Twitter.
By Rodney Ho, Radio & TV Talk
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284 comments Add your comment
chief media urologist
December 31st, 2011
7:37 am
If only the conservative crowd had been as vigilant defending the Dixie Chicks’ right to espouse THEIR politics. Hypocrites
Deirdre
December 31st, 2011
8:11 am
Pot/kettle. Conservatives go after the Dixie Chicks and liberals attack Kelly Clarkson. 6 of 1, half a dozen of the other. Y’all are so sure that your side is right that you can’t see your own foolishness. You’ll fight a point to the death even though your logic is faulty, your “facts” are actually propaganda and sometimes you’re even agreeing with each other but are so blind you can’t see it.
The internet at its worst….or maybe its best.
chief media urologist
December 31st, 2011
9:12 am
Deirdre, I never insulted Kelly Clarkson nor do I disagree with her opinion or her right to voice it. But this is a current event and it needs to be contrasted with another recent event to show the utter hypocrisy of BOTH sides.
Deirdre
December 31st, 2011
9:28 am
Wasn’t speaking to you directly as the Dixie Chicks have been brought up a number of times already. However, your previous statement did NOT condemn both sides…just the side with which you disagree.
If you have read everything written by people commenting on this thread, I think you’ll see my point. My 8:11 am statement was mostly directed at commenters who, for example, condemn those who spout the Fox News party line and then support their beliefs by quoting misinformation garnered from MSNBC…and vise versa.
We have become a nation that is incapable of making up its mind. Instead we depend on sound bites and propaganda from Fox, MSNBC and other news sources. We cannot actually know the truth about any candidate, including our current President, without making judgements based on our own observation rather than what O’Reilly or Maddow tell us to think.
Watch the debates! Read transcripts from speeches. Check the voting records. Don’t depend on someone with an agenda to do it for you!
chief media urologist
December 31st, 2011
10:16 am
The politician’s and media’s best friend is the uninformed, brainwashed masses.
Lubie
December 31st, 2011
10:27 am
Lefties are all about free speech unless its yours.
What hypocrites!
zeke
December 31st, 2011
11:41 am
Smart girl! Endorsing a Republican shows that she is brilliant and more intelligent than the morons supporting any democrat, especially Obama! Only problem, she endorsed the wrong person!!
JTesla
December 31st, 2011
11:52 am
Lubie, one minor addition: “Lefties and Righties are all about free speech unless it’s yours. What hypocrites!”
I’d also like to point out that this is not a free speech issue as the government is not trying to stifle speech. And like the hokey pokey, that’s what it’s all about (when discussing free speech).
justme
December 31st, 2011
11:59 am
I don’t agree with her about Paul but I do agree with eberything else she said.
Brilliant Boy
December 31st, 2011
12:24 pm
Fat, dumb, and stupid is no way to go through life chick! Oh and your music stinks too..
Tired of the political nightmare
December 31st, 2011
2:56 pm
If the right candidate is not chosen this time there is going to a whole lot of hatin’ goin’ on….that goes for both parties.
Tired of the political nightmare
December 31st, 2011
2:57 pm
should be “there is going to be a whole”
Highlander
December 31st, 2011
5:39 pm
WOW!! …just wow!
dre
December 31st, 2011
7:08 pm
Don’t agree with her choice of candidate, but good party choice. You go!
Eddie
December 31st, 2011
8:03 pm
I am no fan of the Republican Party but I served 20 years in the Army so people can choose the person they believe can better the country. If she supports Paul that’s her rights.
Get out the Ham and Beans
December 31st, 2011
9:04 pm
what ever floats kelly clarkson if he wants to vote for a Man who would attack Gays n vote against the MLK hoilday fine so be it Me i goin vote for Newt for President in 2012….then maybe we get some more money for people like me who are disabled from car accident which cause me get big where had surgery remove me of me self……anyway if they can give congress n house raise should we not get 8% too….and Oh look i got over me head again here folks….gee anyway Happy New year 2012 be here soon
tam tam
December 31st, 2011
9:16 pm
Kelly has a right as every American to use her right to free speech. Whether I agree or disagree is not the point. I respect her for her courage to speak up in a time that anyone that disagrees with members of the performing arts is ridiculed.
B Taylor
January 1st, 2012
1:01 am
Well, I guess everybody knows what she’s about NOW!!! American Idol my FOOT! Just an idiot is what she is! Ron Paul…UGH! She agrees with a racist homophobic little clown who wants to run the country??? GIVE ME A BREAK!!!
Big Jazzy
January 1st, 2012
9:30 am
Oh no….Kelly Clarkson voiced her opinion in the support of a conservative candidate! That means she’s an idiot, a racist, and a homophobe, and automatically loses half her fanbase!!! (You go, Kelly)
OneFreeMan
January 1st, 2012
5:20 pm
She’s been dixiechicked…LOL
Ted
January 1st, 2012
5:23 pm
Kelly Clarkson can’t even express herself in an articulate way. The fact of the matter is, she shouldn’t “tweet” something if you don’t want people to respond. It’s amazing that she has the audacity to tweet about “so much hate” and “being hateful” yet she doesn’t mention Ron Paul’s hate-filled newsletters.
Rick
January 1st, 2012
5:41 pm
I’m surprised that a lesbian would support a Republican candidate.
No one believes Gingrich's tears are sincere -- he's been too much of a devil in his lifetime.
January 1st, 2012
11:02 pm
And he’s an awful actor, and his wife’s hair color is plastic and horrendous. The Grinch doesn’t want people to say negative things about him because he doesn’t want to get into that — there’s so much negative to say — probably more than any other candidate; we have not forgotten. If he really is a cry-baby (we’ve ALL been deeply hurt by the lose of love ones, but don’t cry in public), he’s the perfect person to be the leader of the free world — right!
Cynthia
January 2nd, 2012
6:41 am
I don’t like Ron Paul, but I would never treat anyone badly just because I disagree with them. This is America and she has a right to state her opinion.
Dumb Masses
January 2nd, 2012
11:50 am
If Kelly Clarkston would have endorsed Obama everyone would have loved it. Its a one way street. Stick to your independant thinking Kelly, the libs hate individual achievement and ideas.
repeat
January 2nd, 2012
4:10 pm
kelley u need to stick to music and working out
vote for me
January 2nd, 2012
6:08 pm
doesnt matter who is president ,as long as you have the same people .term after term ,in the house and senate nothing will change. you want change ? Vote these people out.All of them….its seems that they forgot that they work for the people .Clean house people….. show them you ve had enough. it doesnt matter who the president is , when you have the house and senate side – show going on. . nothing will get fixed This is a great country , but we have some serious problems, and the people in office are more worried about bickering with one another instead of working together to fix these problems, Vote Them Out.
A. Johnson
January 3rd, 2012
7:46 am
Bush put us in this mess! The eight-year Bush presidency has merited no more than a fleeting reference in televised debates and interviews. When it does surface it’s often a point of criticism, as when former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum told CNN on Sunday that he regretted voting for the No Child Left Behind education law Bush championed. The former president himself has been all but invisible since leaving office in 2009 with a Gallup approval rating of just 34 percent. In a presidential contest dominated by concerns over the weak economy, government spending and the $15 trillion federal debt, the Republican candidates have been loath to acknowledge the extent to which Bush administration policies contributed to those problems. Republicans also controlled Congress for six of the eight years Bush was in the White House, clearing the way for many of his policies to be enacted. Taking office in 2001 with a balanced federal budget and a surplus, Bush quickly pushed through sweeping tax cuts that were not offset by spending cuts. The tax cuts have cost about $1.8 trillion, according to estimates by the Congressional Budget Office and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan launched after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks never were budgeted and have cost taxpayers about $1.4 trillion so far. Obama ordered the last troops out of Iraq in December, but the Afghanistan conflict will extend into 2014.Republicans talk a lot about losing their way during the last decade, and when they do they’re talking about the Bush years.signed legislation in 2003 enacting a prescription drug benefit as part of Medicare, the government health care plan for seniors — a huge entitlement program projected to cost as much as $1.2 trillion over 10 years.The Troubled Asset Relief Program, the bank bailout program widely loathed by many conservatives, was another Bush-era program. Congress authorized nearly $700 billion for the program at the recommendation of Bush’s treasury secretary, former Goldman Sachs executive Henry Paulson, in response to the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the subsequent financial crisis in the fall of 2008.
Fred
January 3rd, 2012
9:07 am
She can support whomever she likes, but she has to remember that her fan base votes with their dollars too. This should be a lesson to her to keep her mouth closed. Everyone talks about smaller government, but most people who extoll those virtues have never been to Washington and are politically ignorant.
Amy
January 3rd, 2012
9:18 am
Great response from Kelly, I disagree with her support for Ron Paul………MItt Romney is the best choice for President out of this field but they all would be better than B.O.
dmcs
January 3rd, 2012
10:14 am
Republicans are only great for white people simple and plain.
RxDawg
January 3rd, 2012
12:08 pm
Well I’m late to the party, but I’ve read every comment and here’s what I think.
1. Kudos to Kelly for posting an opinion and standing by it honorably despite all the twitter trash that was thrown her way. My respect for her just went up immensly.
2. pay = moron. Seriously, your deranged comments make my head hurt.
3. @Freedom Lover – Thank you for your thoughtful posts. I found them very well spoken and thought out. And you just won another supporter. I just didn’t like any of the Repub candidates. But you know what, I don’t see Fox/CNN/ESPN.. or any of the media folks talking about Ron. And now I know exactly why. The way the national media (ALL of them) manipulates our society is appaling. Thank god for the internet, but I’m sure big gov will be passing laws to control it too soon.
I’ve seen enough. I’m voting for Ron Paul. I liked him when he ran as an independent way back.
dmcs
January 3rd, 2012
3:57 pm
It’s funny to hear people talk about “Big Government” but those are the exact same folks that implemented the Patriot Act, TSA harrassing everyone at the airport, want Voter suppression I mean Voter ID laws even though there is absolutely no evidence of any voter fraud. You may not want Big Government you damn sure want to be under total control by Police and Military. Make your mind up either we support Freedom or we don’t, don’t pick and choose what ever benefits you the most.
RxDawg
January 4th, 2012
9:50 am
“even though there is absolutely no evidence of any voter fraud.”
Huh? What about all that ACORN buisness?