Shania Twain has apologised after causing controversy with her admission that she "would have voted" for U.S. President Donald Trump.
The 52-year-old country singer, a Canadian citizen who lives in Switzerland, did not vote in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. But while many of her peers were backing Hillary Clinton in the race to the White House, Shania told Britain's The Guardian newspaper that had she voted, she would have pledged her support to Trump.
"I would have voted for him because, even though he was offensive, he seemed honest," she explained. "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 bulls**t. I would have voted for a feeling that it was transparent. And politics has a reputation of not being that, right?"
Following the remark, Shania was bombarded with criticism on social media, so she issued a statement on Twitter to clarify her comments.
"I would like to apologise to anybody I have offended in a recent interview with the Guardian relating to the American President," she wrote. "The question caught me off guard. 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. 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."
Shania concluded her lengthy message by insisting her comment doesn't mean she endorses Trump, who has caused controversy since he became president in January 2017.
"My answer was awkward, but certainly should not be taken as representative of my values nor does it mean I endorse him," she wrote. "I make music to bring people together. My path will always be one of inclusivity, as my history shows."
