I tend to think if you like smooth R&B singers, you’re probably at least a moderate fan of Miguel. My favorite is probably his current hit, “Coffee,” which gets caught in my head constantly these days. Miguel is 30 years old and while I don’t recall him being particularly politically active in past years, he was asked about the state of American politics by the British magazine NME. His answer was surprisingly incisive, especially considering 2015 seems to be the year for celebrities saying dumb sh-t about politics, feminism and assorted hot-button issues. Here are some highlights from Miguel’s NME interview:
How he feels about Donald Trump’s supporters: “There’s a tremendous responsibility that we all have just to not be f–king ignorant.”
His thoughts about Trump hosting SNL: “I believe it will be good for the ratings, I’m sure that’s how they’re looking at it too. But you know, I think there’s also a responsibility that you have to have. And I don’t think ignorance deserves that kind of attention and unfortunately we live in a world where attention is the ultimate currency. His ability to aggregate attention is valuable to a network, a business where advertising is the source of income. And that means you need as much attention as possible. If I was asked to perform on the same episode as Donald Trump, I would be faced with the same decision as the network. And me being who I am I would definitely decline, probably at my own detriment.”
On Trump’s suitability for the presidency: “It’s really sad that even at that level there is this ignorance that exists. I think issues of racial, economic, social, sexual discrimination, these discriminations are a worldwide thing, a human thing. It doesn’t only exist in the States, it doesn’t only exist here in the UK, it’s everywhere. Everywhere there are people that believe that other groups you know, based on however you wanna categorise them are lesser people in some way shape or form.”
Who is he supporting in 2016? “I don’t have any particular candidate that I’m into. Because I’m not clear on what each viable candidate standing is on the issues that matter to me yet. And I don’t vote for party, you know. When I do vote it’ll be for the candidate that wants to do something about the issues that matter to me and that’s the best thing that we can do.”
I mean… this is how to talk about tricky political issues in a print interview. Take note, celebrities. It’s fair game for a celebrity to call out Trump, and I don’t even think what Miguel said about Trump was even that bad. Trump IS ignorant. But I love that Miguel is bringing it around to larger ignorance in society towards so many groups. Damn… I guess I’m a Miguel fan now.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
I know, Miguel. It boggles the mind.
I agree that Trump is NOT the answer, but I am also reticent to select the likes of H. Clinton or B. Sanders. The former is a demonstrated political parasite who cares NOTHING for her “constituency.” She is a power monger and seems to feel entitled to the presidency on the basis of her lousy record as a politician and her gender. Heck, she’s not even likable. The latter is a socialist who believes that those who work hard for their money should support those who don’t. This is/was a capitalist democracy. I don’t know what it’s evolving into, but I guarantee that without personal responsibility and a desire to know the truth, we are all doomed. Keep on watching the Kardashians y’all and let the world and your options pass you by.
God forbid America turns into a socialist country, like, I don’t know, Norway.
Indeed – http://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/compare/Norway/United-States/Crime
@me, sorry but you’ve got it backwards. Right now we have those who work hard supporting those who don’t (Big Oil, Corporations, the 1%). What Democratic Socialism says is that if we have to pay taxes we should get some benefit from it and that all our tax money shouldn’t be sent to corporations that are already making record profits, or to the defense industry building more weapons, or to maintaining wars. We already have some socialism in American (it’s not communism). Our Social Security cards, our free public highways are all socialist. Socialism is not like communism where everything is held in common. It means we should pay attention to the “by the people for the people” part and have more of a say in what our government does to/for us. And supporting the poor….well, they aren’t poor because they’re lazy and being poor isn’t a crime. Most of us are a lost job, or a divorce away from needing assistance. Every politician who has tried to Food Stamp Challenge has backed out of it after a few days, yet they expect the poor to live that way every day.
Ditto
It’s not sad, it’s frightening. Dark age, frightening.
Yeah, I don’t understand it. I have many friends that are pretty conservative, and my biggest fear is that I’ll learn they support him. I try to be open to all walks of life and ways of thinking, and I want people to try harder to understand one another and their views. But I think finding out something like that might be a deal breaker for me. 🙁
Very well said.
Adorn is my jam! He’s very talented and always comes across as thoughtful and intelligent.
Trump is a joke! I feel sorry for intelligent,responsible Americans whi have to deal with these type of backwards politicians.
I love what he said about responsibility and that he would turn down an opportunity to perform on the same show as Trump even if it was bad for his career. I wish more people thought that way.
I also wish more people thought that way, but in this day and age, I don’t know if that’s wise, it just isn’t lucrative. In today’s world, the worse you are the better you’re off.
I never could stomach Trump but would never belittle someone who supports him. This is America, correct…..
So people can be completely irresponsible and never be disliked for it?
Jackie: Nope. That was my point. We can all have opinions and voice them and get no retribution from the government. We take liberty for granted. Trump is the biggest douche there is imo, but if the guy next door likes him, it’s his right. He will never be president anyway, it’s all a goof. Even he knows it in his pathetic egotistical brain.
This is America. You’re allowed to say whatever you want no matter how offensive it is to mine or anyone’s sensibilities. Because is is America I have the freedom as a human being, react to BS.
Oh, I would.
Trump’s entire campaign is fundamentally based on fear and ignorance. Almost nothing Trump says could actually come to pass. Build a giant wall and make Mexico pay for it? Such a thing would probably be illegal and violate several agreements we have with Mexico, so I’d love to see how he’d manage that.
That’s the problem. To buy what Trump is selling, you’ve got to be fundamentally ignorant of some important things. Anybody who has even a cursory understanding of international politics or negotiation would be horrified by some of the stuff he says. He advocates the simple breaking of trade agreements without regard to the consequences to an already fragile globalized economy.
My husband is a political aid, and he sees it on the ground. He always says, “Trump supporters, across the board, share one major thing, and that is that they are truly, genuinely not smart. Some are nice people, but they are just not smart. They don’t understand that what he says fundamentally will. not. work. They do not understand the complex mechanisms that make up the economy, the government, the international market, etc. And neither does he. That’s why they lap up this simplistic BS with no issues.”
So while I try to not disparage anybody, Trump supporters make it really, really hard on me.
Well, I’m not from America, but I am from a country where freedom of speech also exists and I feel free to say that I think that anyone who supports Trump is a socially insensitive bigot with a questionable IQ.
I’ve never heard of Miguel, but he seems very intelligent.
True, calling Trump’s supporters ‘ignorant’ is rather, well, ignorant. People across the country are frustrated with how toxic Washington (and those elected to run it) has become, and they’re protesting it right now by supporting ‘rogue’ candidates like Trump, Sanders, Carson, and Fiorina. People aren’t happy, and getting force fed business-as-usual candidates like Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush is making them revolt a bit. There’s nothing ignorant about that.
That said, we’ll still likely be stuck with Clinton and Bush for the general election. Old habits are hard to break.
But doesn’t that just create an infinite regression? “I can’t call out your actual ignorance because I might be perceived as ignorant myself.” Isn’t that like “how dare you be intolerant of my intolerance?”
Trump preys on ignorance. The majority of campaign promises he makes are factual impossibilities that could never, ever come to pass, even if he did get elected. Anybody with a basic understanding of how government works knows that to be the case. Anybody who is even slightly versed in politics knows this. Trump’s supporters are almost uniformly not people who know this stuff. And yeah, that makes them ignorant. I see no reason not to call it out.
“Trump preys on ignorance.”
In. Your. Opinion.
In my eyes, the so-called ‘respectable’ politicians like Clinton and Bush and Obama and McConnell and Boehner and Pelosi and so on are the ones that prey on ignorance.
@Alicia, in my eyes as well.
And let me be clear, I don’t actually wish to see a Trump and/or Sanders get nominated, but I’m glad they’re making a (tiny) mess of things.
Alicia, you miss my point. All politicians have times when they want voters to look the other way.
But Trump isn’t selling that. He’s selling things that are physical, legal and/or political impossibilities. Try to see the distinction.
True, calling Trump’s supporters ‘ignorant’ is rather, well, ignorant.”
NOT!!!!
If someone is perceived as stupid, then that’s a person’s opinion that they are stupid. People maybe frustrated with Washington but do you think they are going to be less irritated if Trump is elected into office? No politician is going to completely satisfy everyone’s wants and needs. Enough with the people are frustrated argument. I’m with Miguel on this. Not only are some of his supporters are bordering on ignorance but Trump has said some pretty ignorant things himself. These are some of the offensive ignorant things he has said.
911 wouldn’t have happened because he would have had stricter immigration policies (In other words he wouldn’t let in people from certain countries).
President Obama was not born in the US (An ‘extremely credible source’ has called my office and told me that Barack Obama’s birth certificate is a fraud.
“President Obama is a Muslin”
So, candidate Trump, what’s your plan for China?
“Our country is in serious trouble. We don’t have victories anymore. We used to have victories, but we don’t have them. When was the last time anybody saw us beating, let’s say China in a trade deal? I beat China all the time. All the time.”
26,000 unreported sexual assults in the military-only 238 convictions. What did these geniuses expect when they put men & women together?
A woman MUST be hot in order to be a journalist.
Pumping breast milk is “disgusting.”
If Hilary Clinton can’t satisfy her husband what makes her think she can satisfy America.
Angelina Jolie’s been with so many guys she makes me look like a baby… And, I just don’t even find her attractive,” he said in an interview with Larry King in 2006.
“My favorite part [of ‘Pulp Fiction’] is when Sam has his gun out in the diner and he tells the guy to tell his girlfriend to shut up. Tell that bitch to be cool. Say: ‘Bitch be cool.’ I love those lines.” –
New York Times columnist Gail Collins recalled: “During one down period, I referred to him in print as a ‘financially embattled thousandaire’ and he sent me a copy of the column with my picture circled and ‘The Face of a Dog!’ written over it.”
Is this the kind of President that American’s wants? A racist sexiest President. The kind that will make nasty remarks about leaders from other countries if they don’t agree with him.
@ Alicia… Trump is creating a circus and distracting people from REAL issues. This is far from a “tiny” mess.
“He’s selling things that are physical, legal and/or political impossibilities.”
I hope you pay enough attention to know that folks in Washington do that ALL THE TIME.
I get your point, Alicia. But it’s just sad, frustrating and frightening that instead of having an actually valuable, educated and sharp candidate who would call the others on the BS, we have a sexist and racist pig like Trump doing that. Donald Trump represents all the negative stereotypes of Americans.
Well, he’s right. Trump knowingly plays to the lowest common denominator, and that’s why he can stick around. There’s a large segment of the population that lives their lives largely consumed by fear and ignorance, and Trump makes them his base. And good on him for calling out SNL for the blatant rating grab this is. They just look desperate and tone deaf with this one.
Spot on.
Think they don’t live in ignorance actually and that is more scary. They just choose to listen to their particular news sources. They do know whats going on the world but choose to ignore it. One of the smartest guys i know, doesn’t believe in the moon landing anymore because of a video he watched. He was aware of the truth before but after watching one video changed his mind. That is the era we live in, it takes so little to make people doubt. We have lost the ability to fact check and care less & less about facts.
I’m boycotting SNL. Lately, I think the show sucks rocks. It was much better years ago. Now, not so much.
I really hope he lets his comments stand and does not issue an apology later. These are great comments. A+, Miguel.
I don’t know who Miguel is, but right on; he seems to have a good head on his shoulders, and we do need smart voters.
+1
My opinion is that Trump supporters are nothing but ‘Dumb a**es!!!! I fully agree with what Miguel is saying!!!
No truer words have ever been spoken, Miguel!
Donald Trump or Al Sharpton ya’ll. Which one is more ignorant?