‘Not a Trump Supporter’: Billie Eilish, Britney Spears and other celebrities targeted in new White House documents
The White House has criticised Billie Eilish for saying President Donald Trump was “destroying” the United States, according to a new report.
The White House has criticised teen singer-songerwriter Billie Eilish for saying US President Donald Trump was “destroying” the United States, according to a new report.
The Trump administration had been planning to roll out a celebrity-endorsed public health campaign amid the coronavirus pandemic, and ruled out the pop star because she was “not a Trump Supporter”.
It also noted Eilish’s comments from the Democratic National Convention earlier this year, saying she “stated (Donald Trump) ‘is destroying our country and everything we care about’.”
New documents show the Trump administration vetted some 274 celebrities’ political views and criminal history as part of the publicly funded campaign.
The PSA Celebrity Tracker shows other celebrities were ruled out of appearing in the campaign to “defeat despair and inspire hope”, including singer Jennifer Lopez, because she used her recent Super Bowl performance to criticise Mr Trump’s immigration policies.
Actor George Clooney, because he was a “lifelong liberal Democrat” and director Judd Apatow because he “believes Trump does not have the intellectual capacity to run as President”.
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Dennis Quaid, along with singer CeCe Winans and Shulem Lemmer all taped public service announcements before later withdrawing their consent to participate.
Other performers, including Britney Spears, rapper Ludacris, actor Betty White, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Trevor Noah, host of The Daily Show, were approached and declined.
The tracker was put together by contractor Atlas Research, which was paid $A21.3 million ($US15 million) by the administration and includes notes on some 274 US celebrities.
Documents for the $A354.6 million ($US250 million) taxpayer funded project were obtained by Democratic House politicians, according to The Washington Post.
In a letter sent to the US Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Alex Azar, three high ranking democrats wrote that the HHS Assistant Secretary Michael Caputo was trying to use the project to boost Mr Trump’s popularity.
One document they obtained from a contractor showed Mr Caputo suggesting the theme “Helping the President will Help the Country”.
The Washington Post claims some celebrities had been excluded from the Public Service Announcements for publicly supporting former president Barack Obama, or for criticising Mr Trump, or being supportive of same sex marriage, or gay rights.
None of the public service announcements have yet been put to air.
Mr Caputo, who announced he was taking 60 days of leave in September, has not commented on the allegations in The Washington Post’s report.