Bette Midler Slammed As ‘Racist’ After Tweet Calling Donald Trump Rally Goers ‘Blackground’
Bette Midler is facing backlash on Twitter after the singer posted a tweet Wednesday suggesting that President Donald Trump paid African American crowd members as “blackground” at a re-election rally.
Midler, who has been an outspoken critic of the President, shared the photo of Trump standing on a stage with a group of African American men in the crowd behind him.
“Look, there are African American men in this shot! How much did he pay them to be ‘blackground’?” Midler tweeted.
The singer, who has over 1.6 million followers, was immediately criticized for the tweet, with many of Twitter users calling her racist.
“Wow, Bette! That’s some racist crap right there. I guess an old, white woman like yourself gets to decide what and how black people should believe and vote,” @staceybeast tweeted.
The President has not yet replied to Midler’s tweet. The singer did not seem phased by the backlash as she continued to tweet about former special counsel Robert Mueller’s testimony on Capitol Hill.
The feud between Midler and Trump has been brewing for a while.
In June, the president called Midler a “washed up psycho” after she apologized for tweeting an alleged Trump quote that was later found to be phony, according to Fox News.
https://twitter.com/BetteMidler/status/1154044513872015361
“If I were to run, I’d run as a Republican. They’re the dumbest group of voters in the country. They believe anything on Fox News. I could lie and they’d still eat it up. I bet my numbers would be terrific,” Midler wrote in her tweet. It contained a picture that seems to have been taken from a newspaper.
It was retweeted more than 10,000 times and liked more than 27,000 times.
Her followers pointed out the quote was a hoax. The quote had been fact-checked by Snopes in 2015 when it determined it to be false. Midler has not deleted the tweet
Days after that the singer took to Twitter again over Michael Moore’s reaction to Trump’s hair.
“He actually looks better here! Maybe someone in his camp can gently give him a shiv. I mean, shove.”
The tweet has since been deleted.
In May 2018, Midler claimed that Trump’s decision to move the American embassy in Israel to Jerusalem was the cause of Palestinians rioting on the Israel-Gaza border.
In May 2019, Midler mocked Trump voters, suggesting that his base is illiterate. She also mused about Trump’s staunch refusal to release his tax returns despite years of a political tradition that Presidential candidates open their books to the public.
There's a theory that Trump doesn't want his taxes released because if his base reads that he's not as rich as he says, they might lose confidence in him. His base can read?
— bettemidler (@BetteMidler) May 8, 2019
Last month, Midler also tweeted a poem about First Lady Melania Trump with crude and childish language. It also hinted that the President might have mental health issues.
There once was a girl from Slovenia
Who now lives right on Pennsylvinia
To the East Room she’ll flee
From her husband’s wee wee
While he plays with his own schizophrenia— bettemidler (@BetteMidler) June 18, 2019
Midler has most recently starred in the Broadway revival of Hello, Dolly!
