The 2020 Presidential election signaled waning American support for then-President Donald Trump.
While he's developed friendships with many celebs throughout his career, those friendships
changed when Trump ran for President. Here are a few famous former supporters.
Clay Aiken got to know Donald Trump when Aiken appeared as a contestant on Celebrity Apprentice.
Aiken didn't endorse Trump in 2016, but he did speak positively about
his Apprentice boss' candidacy early in the process, telling Billboard in August 2015,
"Anybody who discounts him is shortsighted."
Aiken, who ran for Congress as a Democrat in 2014, never agreed with Trump on politics but
looked upon him fondly. The singer told FOX Business in March 2016,
"I like him as a person. I always say he's like the uncle that gets
drunk at the wedding and embarrasses you. You still love him, but you wish he'd shut up."
Fast forward to August 2017, and Aiken changed his tune,
posting an apology on Twitter for having defended Trump against accusations of racism
and later added a tweet clarifying that his stance on Trump as president was always negative.
Caitlyn Jenner says she received more flack for coming out as a Republican than she did for
coming out as transgender. Still, she supported Donald Trump's candidacy in 2016. In April 2017,
Jenner said on Late Night with Seth Meyers that she had spoken with Trump about LGBTQ+ issues
before the Inauguration and was disappointed that during his first month in office,
he repealed the protections granted to transgender students via Title 9.
Jenner insisted her ultimate loyalty is with the LGBTQ+ community but that she
doesn't vote based on only those issues, stating,
"I believe in little things like the Constitution and freedom. I believe
in minimal government. [...] Republicans have done a better job in that direction."
Jenner also told Meyers she refused an invitation to play golf with
Trump after the Title 9 action but admitted it was largely because the
community wouldn't respond well to a public outing with Trump.
Even staunch-conservative Jenner finally had enough when, in July 2017,
Trump banned transgender people from serving in the military.
In an opinion piece for The Washington Post, Jenner admitted she was wrong in thinking
Trump would support the LGBTQ+ community and said Trump treated them as political pawns.
Another Kardashian clan member, Kanye West, lent his support to Donald Trump in the 2016 election,
much to the dismay of many fans. West met with Trump during the Presidential transition period
to discuss "multicultural issues," but their communication did not end there, nor did West's
support for Trump. Praise for Trump would pop up on West's social media throughout much of Trump's
four-year term, to the appreciation of POTUS, but ultimately disappeared in July 2020. The
Yeezy designer said in a revealing interview with Forbes that he no longer supports Trump.
Just a few days before the Forbes article was released, West announced via a tweet he would
be running for President. West's Presidential run was widely panned as a spoiler campaign intended
to siphon black voters from Joe Biden, which West ultimately admitted to Forbes was true.
Former WWE wrestler Jesse "The Body" Ventura isn't a fan of politicians in either of the
two major parties, but the former Minnesota Governor is an old friend of Donald Trump.
By October 2020, though, Ventura had simply had enough.
A staunch independent, Ventura wrote an opinion piece for CNBC in July 2016 about his support of
Libertarian Presidential candidate Gary Johnson, but the former wrestler's allegiance was a bit
more nebulous in 2015. CNN reports he made some complimentary remarks about Trump's candidacy — in
a relatively transparent attempt to entice Trump to select him as his Vice Presidential running
mate. He wrote a piece for TIME in August 2016 saying he's happy to see Trump destroying the GOP.
Ventura has been compared to Trump in recent years — a comparison he does not
seem to like. In November 2018, he told MPR News,
"It's hogwash."
Ventura's former Chief of Staff shot it down more emphatically, saying,
"Jesse Ventura is colorful. He's not corrupt."
Quarterback Tom Brady and Donald Trump have been golfing buddies for years.
"Tom Brady.
Great guy, great guy.”
Trump supported Brady throughout deflategate, and the quarterback, in kind,
supported his friend's Presidential candidacy. In September 2015,
CNN reported a "Make America Great Again" hat had been photographed in Brady's locker.
Asked by reporters whether he thought Trump has what it takes to become President, Brady answered,
"I hope so. That would be great."
But Trump's comments about the NFL players kneeling during the
National Anthem to protest police brutality put Brady in a tough spot.
After the Patriots won Super Bowl 51, Brady did not attend the White House ceremony with
other members of the team. In a tit-for-tat, Trump didn't mention Brady's name that day.
In September 2017, Brady spoke with WEEI's radio show, Kirk & Callahan, where he revealed that
he thought Trump's rhetoric on the issue was divisive, and that he supported his teammates.
Former Republican California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
withdrew his support for Donald Trump following the release of the infamous
Access Hollywood tape. He released a statement on Twitter that read,
"For the first time since I became a citizen in 1983,
I will not vote for the Republican candidate for President."
But the chasm between Schwarzenegger and Trump was more complicated than a mere celebrity feud,
because Schwarzenegger took over as host of The Apprentice in 2016. Then President-elect
Trump went on a Twitter rant against the Governator in January 2017, touting his
own previous high ratings as host of the show and criticizing his replacement's performance.
"The ratings went right down the tubes it's been a total disaster."
The feuding continued. In March 2017, in a video posted to Twitter,
Schwarzenegger admonished Trump and trolled him about his then 37% approval ratings, saying,
"I mean, when you take away after-school programs
for children and Meals on Wheels for the poor people, that's not what you call,
'Making America great again.' Come on! I mean, who is advising you?"
The Friday after the 2016 election, Dave Chappelle did a stand-up set at
The Cutting Room in New York, in which he said he had voted for Hillary Clinton but
wasn't particularly pleased about it. HuffPost reports Jared Kushner's newspaper, The Observer,
published an article framing Chappelle's set that night as being pro-Trump.
After the Observer article made its rounds, Chappelle felt he needed to set the record
straight. His representative released a statement saying,
"Dave is disgusted by the tone of the election and especially
by the idea that his comedy would be misconstrued to defend Trump."
Chappelle hosted Saturday Night Live the following
week and did his best to take the high road, saying on air,
"I'm wishing Donald Trump luck, and I'm going to give him a chance,
and we the historically disenfranchised demand that he give us one too."
Sadly, Trump never lived up to Chappelle's hopes,
and he's since revisited it in later interviews and specials.
"I don't know what I said, but whatever I said, I- I really wish I didn't say that s--t."
Breaking Bad actor Bryan Cranston didn't vote for Trump in 2016 and was outspoken about his
opposition to Trump during the campaign. Nine months into Trump's Presidency,
Cranston struck a more optimistic tone when talking with The Hollywood Reporter, saying -
"If [Trump] fails, the country is in jeopardy. It would be egotistical for anyone to say,
'I hope he fails.' To that person I would say, f--k you. Why would you want that?
So you can be right? I don't want him to fail. I want him to succeed. I do. I honestly do."
The actor held the supportive line behind Trump's presidency for a while, but, as time went on,
he began to question the President's sanity. In April 2020, amid the frenzy surrounding
Trump's comments about injecting disinfectant as a possible treatment for COVID-19, Cranston tweeted,
"I've stopped worrying about the president's sanity. He's not sane. And the realization
of his illness doesn't fill me with anger, but with profound sadness. What I now worry about
is the sanity of anyone who can still support this deeply troubled man to lead our country."
Musician Aaron Carter tweeted his support for Donald Trump's candidacy
in February 2016, which sparked a contentious back and forth with his fans.
The rapper told People in April 2016 that the fans harassing him
for his support of Trump don't understand politics, saying -
"I'm too intelligent for you guys."
He later admitted, though, that he didn't support all of Trump's policies
like those on immigration and LGBTQ+ issues and ultimately stated in a since deleted tweet -
"I have decided I will not be voting for Donald Trump. I've seen a lot
and to ME, it's just something I can't take part in. Too many reasons."
Omarosa Manigault Newman is nothing if not entertaining. From the moment she appeared
on the first season of The Apprentice, lying and scheming her way through the challenges with her
eyes firmly affixed on the prize, she was the villain we loved to hate. And she never really
shook that label, even after another two seasons of The Apprentice, and stints as a Presidential
campaign adviser and Director of Communications for the White House Office of Public Liaison.
When that ended, she recorded her firing and subsequent phone conversation with Trump and
came out swinging with promises of truths to be revealed in her subsequent tell-all.
Trump tweeted some insults at her in retaliation and Good Morning America's Robin Roberts gave
Omarosa a sendoff befitting a villain, ending a segment about her firing with,
"She said she has a story to tell, and I'm sure she'll be selling that story.
Yeah she will. Bye Felicia."
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