Like Taylor Swift and Stevie Nicks before her, the legendary Linda Ronstadt has now endorsed Kamala Harris in the US presidential race — and given "rapist" Donald Trump a damning indictment in the process.
Today, the convicted felon and Republican candidate is scheduled to hold a rally in Ronstadt's hometown of Tucson, AZ, — which has "deep Mexican-American roots and a joyful, tolerant spirit" — at the Linda Ronstadt Music Hall. "I would prefer to ignore that sad fact. But since the building has my name on it, I need to say something," the iconic singer-songwriter wrote in a statement posted to Instagram.
"I don't just deplore his toxic politics, his hatred of women, immigrants and people of colour, his criminality, dishonesty and ignorance — although there's that," Ronstadt continued. "For me it comes down to this: In Nogales and across the southern border, the Trump Administration systematically ripped apart migrant families seeking asylum. Family separation made orphans of thousands of little children and babies, and brutalized their desperate mothers and fathers. It remains a humanitarian catastrophe that Physicians for Human Rights said met the criteria for torture. There is no forgiving or forgetting the heartbreak he caused."
She added, "Trump first ran for president warning about rapists coming in from Mexico. I'm worried about keeping the rapist out of the White House." In an aside to Trump's running-mate, JD Vance, Ronstadt wondered if she was "half a childless cat lady" because she lives with a cat now that her two adopted children, whom she raised as a single mom, are both grown and living in their own houses. "Call me what you want, but this cat lady will be voting proudly in November for @kamalaharris and @timwalz."