Twain’s Trump retreat comes at the expense of insight
There’d be less blowback if Shania Twain had come out in favour of asbestos, Russian hackers, rabies, bump stocks, Showgirls or Attila the Hun.
But to say she would’ve voted for Donald Trump? In the world of entertainment, her world, such a declaration is sure to trigger global censure as skulls explode and fingers wag, and Twain is recast as a celebrity deplorable.
Which is exactly what happened this weekend after Britain’s Guardian published a profile of the Canadian singer. There was nothing controversial in the piece until the end, when Twain was asked a hypothetical query: if eligible to vote in the last U.S. election, would she have backed Clinton or Trump?
“I would have voted for him because, even though he was offensive, he seemed honest,” she replied. “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?”
Right. But these days, politics also has a reputation for tribal warfare and zero tolerance when thought crimes are committed.
And to support Trump — and justify doing so on the basis of his perceived honesty — is sure to get the perp a life sentence in the court of public opinion with no chance of parole.
This might explain why Twain, a longtime champion for equality, broke the Guinness World Record for fastest apology this weekend. On Sunday, hours after the Guardian story was published, she tweeted out a four-part mea culpa, a quatrain of laments and regrets, of which she apparently has more than a few.
She started by apologizing to “anybody I have offended” and made clear she is “passionately against discrimination of any kind.”
Twain said she was caught “off guard” by the question and her “awkward” answer “should not be taken as representative of my values nor does it mean I endorse him.”
The only way her walk-back could’ve had more dramatic flair is if she posted a video in which she’s burning a Trump effigy and humming “That Don’t Impress Me Much” while garbed in a pantsuit and “I’m With Her” T-shirt.
But while her apology is sure to defuse the wrath of Trump detractors — and spur a new wave of outrage from Trump supporters who will accuse her of capitulating to liberal intolerance — it also represents a wasted moment for all of us.
Twain should not have apologized. She should have calmly explained.
As one of the bestselling singers in history, with one stiletto in country and the other in pop, it’s easy to forget Twain’s childhood in Timmins was punctuated by poverty and familial dysfunction. In fact, had she not been blessed with real musical chops, it’s possible she’d now be clearing dishes in a waffle house.
That’s not a shot at her personally, or even a put-down of anyone who lives in a place where opportunities are scarce and prosperity is unlikely. Twain broke free. She shattered the socioeconomic trajectory of most others in similar childhood predicaments. She started life behind the proverbial 8-ball and then cleared the pool table with one magical shot that continues to bank off the edges of good fortune.
But despite her rise to the top of an industry that is harder to conquer than politics, it is her response in the Guardian — not her subsequent apology — that’s fascinating. In 2016, when she listened to Trump speak, she heard a straight shooter who was only offensive because he was telling the truth. She heard an anti-establishment saviour commence hostilities on political correctness. She heard honesty.
In other words, she heard exactly what Trump fans still hear.
That alone is worth investigating because it suggests, once again, that Trump’s appeal is and always will be psychological. Given her progressive stand on issues, Twain should’ve seen Trump’s platform as destructive. Given her hardscrabble past, she should’ve realized his policies are sure to hurt the very people who support them most. Given her own painful experience with deceit — her first husband cheated on her with her best friend — Twain should’ve detected Trump’s endless barrage of lies. Trump is honest in the same way Justin Trudeau is serious.
But instead of seeing Trump for what he is — a narcissist plagued with insecurity and a lack of empathy who is propped up by bootlicking enablers with no moral and intellectual courage — Twain saw an antidote to political BS.
Now that she has apologized, maybe she can expand on why she felt this way, why she believed the good in Trump outweighed the bad. Maybe she can help give voice to those who believe the U.S. president is misunderstood and wrongly maligned.
Maybe she can give us some insights before the next Trump comes along.
That would be far more useful than any hasty apology.