Critical thinking skills Right now, Chappelle Rowan’s popularity is at an all-time low, so she’s once again making her stance on the 2024 presidential election clear. Days after she was accused of supporting Donald Trump because she didn’t explicitly endorse Kamala Harris, the musician posted a TikTok video explaining her stance: “Actions speak louder than words and actions speak louder than endorsements.” But even that wasn’t enough. When Rowan woke up this morning, she was still facing so much resistance that she made a second TikTok video expressing her frustration with the choices on offer in the election.
“Endorsement and voting are two completely different things,” Rowan said in the video. “I don’t agree with a lot of what’s going on in terms of policies. Honestly, fuck the policies of the right — but also fuck some of the policies on the left. That’s why I can’t endorse. That’s why I can’t put my whole name and my whole project behind one. There’s no way I can stand behind some of the transphobic, genocidal views of the left. So, yeah, there is.” huge “There are problems with both. You know what is right and what is wrong, and so do I.”
“Go to hell, Trump,” she added. “But go to hell with some of the things that have happened in the Democratic Party that have failed people like you and me — especially Palestine and every marginalized community in the world. No, I’m not going to settle for the options that are available to me. And you’re not going to make me feel bad about it. So yes, I’m going to vote for Kamala the F***er. But I’m not going to settle for what I’m offered, because that’s questionable.”
In the years before she achieved what might seem to some from the outside as an overnight success, Rowan was basing her entire personal and creative identity on the fight for the rights of marginalized communities. In her recent work, Rolling Stone In the cover story, she said, “Right now, it’s more important than ever to use your voice, and I will do whatever it takes to protect people’s civil rights, especially the LGBTQ+ community. My ethics and values will always be aligned with that.” In the same interview, she added, “I feel fortunate to be alive during an incredibly historic time when a woman of color is running for president.”
But Rowan's comment in a recent interview with The Guardian The comments began circulating online this week and planted the seeds of misinterpretation that led to these two TikTok explainer videos. “I don’t feel pressured to endorse someone. There are issues on both sides,” she said. “I encourage people to use their critical thinking skills and use their voices — vote small, vote for what’s happening in your city.” The comments were often made without context to the rest of her quote, which included her prioritizing transgender rights in this year’s election. “They can’t have non-trans people making decisions for trans people, period,” she said.
In her latest TikTok post, Rowan also highlighted the importance of endorsing public figures. “If someone publicly endorses a political figure, it doesn’t even mean they’re going to vote for them. Because like I said in the other video, actions speak louder than words. This isn’t me playing both sides. This is me questioning both sides because that’s what we have. So if you look at my statement and you’re still like, ‘She’s just playing both sides,’ you’re not getting it. I’m criticizing both sides because they’re so distorted,” she said.
“Voting is all we have right now in this system, so I encourage it,” she concluded. “Again, vote for whoever in your mind is the best option for what we have. That’s all we can do. And I hope this makes it clear that I’m not choosing sides with what we have right now. Yes, one is clearly better than the other. But Jesus Christ, I hope you don’t settle for what we have and put your name behind someone you don’t fully trust because of their blatant behavior.”
