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The White House Deputy Press Secretary, Kush Desai, has responded to singer Ariana Grande's viral Instagram repost criticizing the Trump administration. Grande shared the post on Sunday, which targeted the current government about the ICE raids and alleged transphobic views.
In a statement to Entertainment Weekly published September 29, White House Deputy Press Secretary Kush Desai responded to Ariana Grande's post. He seemingly mocked the actress by using some of her popular song names in his statement, including Save Your Tears, Get Well Soon, and Just Like Magic. The statement said:
"Save your tears, Ariana. Because President Trump’s actions ended Joe Biden’s inflation crisis and are bringing in trillions in new investments. He even signed an executive order just like magic that paved the way for the FTC to crack down on Ticketmaster for ripping off Ariana Grande’s concert-going fans. Get well soon, Ariana!"
In her story dated September 28, Ariana Grande reposted a post by Matt Bernstein criticizing Donald Trump and his administration. The post posed a question to the President's supporters, asking rhetorical questions such as whether their lives have gotten any "better" since the Republican was reelected last year.
In Desai's response, he referred to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)'s recent lawsuit against Ticketmaster and Live Nation. The lawsuit alleges that these two entities misled ticket purchasers with misleading resale prices.
A month ago, the FTC also filed a similar lawsuit against the ticket resale company, Key Investment Group and its affiliated organizations for sourcing tickets illegally and reselling them at inflated prices for well-known concerts. These concerts included Taylor Swift's Eras Tour and some of Grande's concerts, among others.
Ariana Grande's repost about Donald Trump explored
In her Instagram story dated September 28, Ariana Grande notably reshared a post by podcaster and activist Matt Bernstein. The post seemingly criticized Trump supporters while calling out the President's administration for the ongoing ICE raids and alleged transphobia. It said:
"I want to check in with Trump voters. I have one very genuine question: it’s been 250 days. now that immigrants have been violently torn from their families and communities have been destroyed, now that trans people have been blamed for virtually everything and live in fear, now that free speech is on the brink of collapse for us all — has your life gotten better?"
It continued:
“Have your groceries gotten cheaper? Has your health insurance premium gone down? Has your work/life balance improved? Can you take a vacation yet? Are you happier? Has the widespread suffering of others paid off for you in the way he promised it would, or are you still waiting?”
This is not the first time Ariana Grande has spoken against the Republican President. The singer notably showed her support for the former Vice President and Democratic nominee, Kamala Harris, in the 2024 Presidential elections. She also criticized the temporary cancellation of Jimmy Kimmel's live show earlier this month by reposting one of SAG-AFTRA's posts.
In other news, Ariana Grande is getting ready for her next tour in promotion of her latest studio album, Eternal Sunshine. This marks her first tour in seven years and will begin next year. The sequel to her critically and commercially successful film, Wicked, titled Wicked: For Good, is also set to be released next year.
