Donald Trump continued his controversial run of public appearances as President of the United States in Phoenix, Arizona last night, delivering a rally speech that, by all accounts, reignited the culture wars that most of the general public, including some Republicans, hoped would have subsided by now. Instead, Trump took the stage and not only defended his Charlottesville remarks that left a large portion of Americans outraged, but also doubled down on his stance that removing Confederate monuments is an assault on the country's heritage.
"They're trying to take away our culture. They're trying to take away our history," Trump said, going on to blame "weak, weak people" for allowing the removal of certain statues and other historical pieces to go through. He also selectively omitted his "many sides" and "both sides" remarks from his speech, choosing instead to put the onus back on some familiar targets. "The only people giving a platform to these hate groups is the media itself and the fake news," he said. As inflammatory as his remarks are, at least one hip-hop celebrity doesn't see any possible way to change Trump's approach.
TMZ asked John Legend if he had watch the speech, during a moment where the singer was signing autographs outside of a Los Angeles airport gate. His response: a terse "I did not." When pressed on whether or not he thinks Donald Trump deserves a second chance to overcome the storm of bad PR he's inflicted on his administration, the answer was again a firm "no." "We know who he is," Legend continued. "He's 71 years old, he's not going to change." Ushered out by a personal bodyguard after giving the brief response, Legend's stance on Trump is clear: the President has run out of goodwill. Ideology, combined with age, makes a tough combination to overcome, at least where this response is concerned.
Legend's wife, Chrissy Teigen, herself a devout Trump opposer, has been going through a rough path herself, according to a new interview she recently gave. Not based on any controversial remarks about politics, but trying to reset an approach to alcohol that had led to her drinking "too much" on the regular. Check out Legend's response to the Trump speech in full below.