Apparently, President Trump is “the most mentally ill human being in America” because of his stance on gun control, according to singer Rihanna.
Speaking with Vogue , the “Umbrella” singer lamented about how “war weapons” were used to kill people in recent shootings while scolding President Trump for claiming gun violence is a “mental illness problem.”
“It is devastating,” she said. “People are being murdered by war weapons that they legally purchase. This is just not normal. That should never, ever be normal. And the fact that it’s classified as something different because of the color of their skin? It’s a slap in the face.”
Rihanna went on to accuse the president of having a racial animus. “It’s completely racist,” she said. “Put an Arab man with that same weapon in that same Walmart and there is no way that Trump would sit there and address it publicly as a mental health problem. The most mentally ill human being in America right now seems to be the president.”
In the same interview, Rihanna also addressed how sick she feels for immigrants under the Trump administration.
“What do you say? What can you say? It’s gonna get better? I almost feel sick to my stomach,” she said. “I don’t even believe this is happening in real life. In front of my eyes. In front of the world. It’s not even hidden. This is blatant.”
Rihanna then referred to a clip of acting director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Ken Cuccinelli, saying on CNN that Emma Lazarus’s Statue of Liberty poem refers to “people coming from Europe.”
“Think about this. What does America stand for? A bunch of immigrants,” Rihanna said. “The fact that his defense was talking about Europeans coming into America? I mean, not only were you immigrants, you were the worst kind. You came in and murdered the real Americans.”
“When I see something happen to any woman, a woman of any minority, kids, black men being murdered in the streets—I can’t remove myself from that,” she continued.
Despite the sadness she feels, Rihanna expressed hope that people will find the “light within them” to achieve change.
“I feel like the darkness has actually forced people to find this light within them where they want to do better,” she said. “It’s easy when you think everything is going really well and perfect. When everything is flowers and butterflies and you’re in your own bubble and your own world. But to see it, to know it’s happening—it pushes you to want to be the light in the world.”
Rihanna also addressed her decision to turn down an offer to perform during the Super Bowl half-time show — a decision she made to exhibit solidarity with Colin Kaepernick.
“I couldn’t dare do that. For what? Who gains from that? Not my people,” she said. “I just couldn’t be a sellout. I couldn’t be an enabler. There’s things within that organization that I do not agree with at all, and I was not about to go and be of service to them in any way.”