Update: Chappell Roan Does Not Endorse Donald Trump Or Kamala Harris

By Dustin Rowles | Celebrity | September 25, 2024 |

Update: Roan has now clarified that, despite her reservations, she will be “voting for fucking Kamala,” but she won’t be endorsing her, and drew a distinction, noting that she’s not playing both sides. She’s “questioning” both sides. “I’m not going to let this narrative like me playing both sides. No, no, no, this is not me playing both sides. This is me questioning both sides, because this is what we have in front of us.”

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My high school kid is studying 9/11 in his honors history class, which is kind of surreal, realizing that I lived through something now being studied in history books. It also means my son is saying things like “George W. Bush is a war criminal” and the worst President in United States history (including Donald Trump) and ranting about U.S. intervention in Guatemala. I’m like, “WTF?! We would have never said something like that in my history classes growing up. The most we ever conceded about post-Civil War America was that ‘we tied’ in the Vietnam War, which is itself bullshit.”

The point is, my son is young and hypercritical of the U.S. government, not only believing we’ve done a lot of bad stuff but that we continue to do so. Yet even he would never say, “I’m not voting for Donald Trump, but I’m not endorsing Kamala Harris either.”

But this is what Chappell Roan is saying, which is actually her backtracking from a statement she made to The Guardian a few days ago, where she said, “there are problems on both sides” and that she doesn’t “feel pressured to endorse anyone.” A lot of folks took that to mean Roan was basically endorsing Donald Trump, which she unequivocally denies:

“Hear it from my mouth, if you’re still wondering: No, I’m not voting for Trump, and yes, I will always question those in power and those making decisions over other people. And I will stand up for what’s right and what I believe in.”

I’m glad she’s not endorsing Donald Trump. But also, we exist in a two-party system. If you’re not voting for Harris, you’re essentially voting for Trump. That’s simple math. Thankfully, Chappell Roan lives in Missouri, which is probably part of why she’s so disillusioned with the government, but it also means that, in a national election, her vote doesn’t mean a whole lot.

But the votes of her fans do, and when every vote counts in swing states, giving any young voter an excuse to stay home and watch Ginny and Georgia instead of heading to the polls is a real shitty thing to do, even if “Pink Pony Club” is one of the best bops of the year. There are no perfect candidates, but if you don’t vote for the one who aligns most closely with your views, you’ll end up with the candidate who is least aligned.