Tina Campbell has been criticized for her comments on President Donald Trump ever since she wrote an open letter to the commander-in-chief saying she would pray for him to be a good leader.
Eight months later, Trump’s policies, practices, rhetoric and highly questionable behavior have made him one of the most polarizing presidents in American history—as of September his disapproval rating was 52 percent, the lowest for a president in modern history.
But as problematic as Trump is, he’s still got the Mary Mary singer’s prayers — and her vote. In a recent interview with The Root, Campbell admitted to ticking his name on the ballot box last November. And she also doubled-down on the comments during an appearance on ESSENCE Now with her sister, Erica Campbell.
“I wrote that letter out of frustration from what I was hearing from churches across America,” she told ESSENCE Now host Makho Ndlovu.
“This man is not our God, and God has given us instruction for this man, which is to pray for him. So me saying I stand with him means I pray for him, even now,” she said. “I disagree with almost every decision the man is making but I still pray for him because he took an oath to represent this country. And we can say, ‘He’s not my president.’ But he’s still the president of America and God gave us a responsibility to pray for him.”
“I pray that someone in his cabinet, someone that’s on Capitol Hill, can have some kind of influence with him to hold this man responsible and accountable for the decision that he made to run and represent the country and make decisions that’s for the greater good fo the country ’cause that’s what he’s doing right now.”
Campbell continued: “The resist and being angry and all that kind of stuff, that ain’t gonna help nobody. So I’m not going to be mad at the president and be mad at everybody else. I’mma fight the devil who’s the real enemy behind everybody that’s acting a fool.”
Tina’s sister Erica, had a different sentiment altogether.
“I’m praying for impeachment,” she said.
ESSENCE Now is a weekly talk show covering all things entertainment, fashion, news, love and relationships. Watch it live every Tuesday at 3pm ET on ESSENCE.com.