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After fans criticized Chappell Roan for expressing the (entirely reasonable) stance that she’ll be voting for, but not endorsing, Kamala Harris, Ethel Cain came to her defense in three Tumblr posts that appear to have since been deleted.
On Thursday, September 26, the “American Teenager” singer posted to Tumblr, her only social media, simply writing in one post, “chappell is right tho.”
In a separate text post, she continued, “like yall cannot be stupid enough to scream fuck israel all year (rightfully so) and then go happily vote for kamala and meme the fuck out of her like everybody did trump like she didn’t just get up on that debate stage and say israel has the right to blow the entire levant to smithereens.”
During the presidential debate on Sept. 10 in Philadelphia, Harris said that while Palestinians deserve “security, self-determination and… dignity,” she would “always give Israel the ability to defend itself and in particular, as it relates to Iran and any threat that Iran and its proxies posed to Israel,” according to PBS. The Democratic presidential candidate has also expressed opposition to an arms embargo on Israel.
“the fact that even slight criticism of kamala, the public servant we’re expected to elect as the PRESIDENT of our COUNTRY as the PROGRESSIVE option, is seen as immediate unwavering support of trump…” Cain said in a third post. “yall cannot actually be this stupid, i don’t want to believe it”
The posts appear to have been deleted since then, but X pop culture account PopBase posted screenshots last night.
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In recent days, the “Red Wine Supernova” singer has faced widespread criticism for saying that “there’s problems on both sides” of the U.S. political system, with some even claiming that the comment was a hint that she is a secret Republican. But as the singer clarified in two TikToks posted this past week, Roan will be “voting for fucking Kamala” but “not settling for what has been offered.”
The singer maintained that there is a difference between voting for someone out of necessity and endorsing them, saying, “There is no way I can stand behind some of the left’s completely transphobic and completely genocidal views.” Roan additionally clarified, “Fuck Trump for fucking real, but fuck some of the shit that has gone down in the Democratic Party that has failed people like me and you, and more so Palestine.” This stance shouldn’t exactly be surprising from the pop star, who declined to perform at the White House in June until there’s “freedom for all oppressed people in occupied territories,” and who has used her merch table to fundraise for Palestinian aid.
Though Cain is less online than Roan (having Tumblr as your only social media in 2024 is a baller move, TBH), she too has spoken out about Israel’s ongoing siege on the occupied territory. In February, the singer released a 10-minute song on SoundCloud titled “من النهر,” Arabic for “from the river.” In an accompanying Instagram post, Cain wrote that the song was “meant as a prayer” for the people of Palestine.
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