Donald Trump: Aretha Franklin ‘Worked for Me’ Many Times. Rest of World: Huh?
If Donald Trump has a talent (don’t worry, we’re going somewhere with this), it’s that he can make absolutely anything about himself. In response to Aretha Franklin‘s untimely passing today, he released a confusing, baffling statement in which he claims she worked for him on many occasions. Here’s the Donald Trump Aretha Franklin relationship he was most likely alluding to.
This morning, Donald Trump tweeted, “The Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, is dead. She was a great woman, with a wonderful gift from God, her voice. She will be missed!” And later, in a rambling video, he claimed to know Aretha Franklin well, saying, “She worked for me on numerous occasions. She was terrific.”
But did she really ever work for him? Maybe there’s some secret Donald Trump Aretha Franklin duet in the vaults? The best we can find is that in 1997 she performed at the grand opening of the Trump International Hotel and Tower in New York City. (The image above is taken from that night, and both parties look thrilled to be together.)
To be clear, because it needs to be said: booking Aretha Franklin to sing at your event doesn’t mean she’s “working for you.”
It’s up in the air whether or not Trump was ever an Aretha Franklin fan, but Franklin didn’t appear to be a fan of Trump’s. When, at 2016’s Kennedy Center Honors, she was asked if she’d perform at Trump’s inauguration as she had at Barack Obama‘s, she demurred, saying, “That’s a very good question,” and added, “We’ll see.” Spoiler alert: She didn’t. Trump had to settle for Jackie Evancho, Tony Orlando and Three Doors Down after many, many bigger artists refused.
Many have also criticized Trump for sending his “best wishes” to Franklin’s family, believeing that’s not an appropriate response to people in mourning.
Watch the Donald Trump Aretha Franklin video below:
Here's the video of Trump saying that Aretha Franklin "worked for me on numerous occasions. She was terrific." Doesn't seem like the W.H. has clairified yet what he meant. (via Yahoo) pic.twitter.com/LErBeAQ7bw
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) August 16, 2018
What do you think of these Donald Trump Aretha Franklin comments?
Featured image courtesy Getty Images
