John Legend has been a vocal critic of former United States President Donald Trump ever since the latter pivoted to politics, and he has now elaborated on his stance.
On Sunday (April 21), the singer and pianist joined MSNBC to discuss the current state of criminal justice with an emphasis on pre-trial reform. Over the chat, host Jen Psaki asked him about the 77-year-old signing the “First Step Act” in 2018 “to reduce the size of the federal prison population while also creating mechanisms to maintain public safety” — this, however, wasn’t enough to change the Grammy winner’s perspective.
“He’s not been an ally,” the Get Lifted hitmaker said right off the bat. “I think the ‘First Step Act’ was fine — it was a very small reform, and to be honest, most of the reform we need is on the local and state level because most incarceration is local and state, and most of the laws that end up being criminally enforced are local and state laws, so very little impact can happen on the federal level.
“At the same time he’s claiming credit for those small things, he’s also saying, ‘Y’know, if people are stealing something, they should get shot in the middle of the store.’ When we protested the killing of George Floyd, he was advocating for the military to shoot us in the streets.”
He added: “He’s made it clear throughout his life that he believes Black people are inferior; like he believes that to his core, in his bones. He won’t let us live in his buildings back in the day, but also when you hear some of the stray comments he makes, he clearly believes in a genetic hierarchy of humanity and is racially determined.
“He is a tried-and-true, dyed-in-the-wool racist, like in the core of his being, he is a racist.”
Listen to the “Save Room” hitmaker discuss the businessman-turned-politician at the 17:37 mark below:
In related news, JAY-Z and Meek Mill’s REFORM Alliance took on Pennsylvania’s punitive probation system last year and won.
According to a press release shared with HipHopDX, the criminal justice reform collective worked alongside a bipartisan group of lawmakers and advocates to bring Senate Bill 838 before Governor Josh Shapiro in mid-December.
Per the matter’s Legislative notes, the bill is “an Act amending Title 42 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in sentencing, further providing for order of probation, for conditions of probation and for modification or revocation of order of probation and providing for probation review conference.”
Put simply, it will provide necessary reforms to the state’s probation rules, making it easier for the formerly incarcerated to abide by them in order to prevent further recidivism.
“It’s long past time to reform our system as a whole and put responsible limits on probation terms,” Shapiro in early 2023. “You’ve passed that bill before. And I hope you’ll do it again. Put it on my desk and I’ll sign it.”
He subsequently made things official after the House passed the legislation, at which point he signed the bill as promised.
Soon after, Meek expressed the win’s personal significance to him and wrote: “My experience on probation reflected millions of other stories that go unheard. So when the world saw my case and the absurdity of sending people to prison for non-criminal technical violations, it sparked a movement.
“It’s an honor and a blessing to see this change come to my home state. I am deeply grateful to the lawmakers and advocates for their hard work over many years to get this done. Thank you, truly.”
Orange Man Bad 😡
John legend is a legit pedo with that freak of a woman, who is also a disgusting pedo. They’ve both been exposed for years in the underground, so I don’t wanna see people pretend to be shocked when they eventually get publicly exposed.
Oh here comes the black liberal slave , hoppin on the white horse for his masters . House slaves shows his face every 4 years
John Legend you’re the one who thinks black people are inferior you said it he never said that he never acted like that but you act like that and you said it you slave
He needs to stfu. He’s lying thru his teeth. Whatever tho, media just wanted to stir the pot. If you know u know
White supremacists flooding the comments to run block for the certified piece of shit Trump as usual. Same white boys who get mad when I call out the white executives for leaving hip hop in its current unrecognizable state.
“You aren’t a Democrat… so you must be…. oh no! A…. w w ww w WHOOOOOITE SUPRME-SISSES!!! And no, what ruined hiphop wasnt and isn’t the executives. It’s the fact that peolle buy and listen to junk. If 50% of people who referred to Nas as a goat bought his next album, it would be his top selling album of all time… yet, it won’t break 50k. That and u can’t expect hiphop to stay dope forever. Rock had its time. Then worse versions and other sounds took over.
Shut your hoe ass up. You don’t even know shit about hip hop. Dumb ass talking about it wasn’t the white executives. Who in the fuck was it then?
@silent_partner uh. So you’re gonna tell me Drake being a huge star is just due to record executives? And Nas can’t break 50k in sales/streams because… record executives? It’s very simple. Good hiphop isn’t very profitable. How does it not make sense to you? Nearly every hiphop fan will admit Nas belongs in top 5. None are buying his albums, or he’d be selling millions of records on each release. It’s about appealing to the youth. I know it’s hard to beleive, but the majority of today’s youth do not enjoy hearing old-school sounding rap. It’s kinda like how our generation always says the music was so much better before. Our parents said our music sucked too. And we say the kids music sucks now. We just got older and can’t connect to the music because it’s not made for our generation.
Drake is a star because Wayne co-signed him 15 years ago. That’s a different time and place in the music industry. You’re too stupid to explain shit to though. Stop tagging me dummy.
So emotional lol
2009 was a different time, before the age of… record executives pushing artists for profits? Bro, people like Wayne are literally the styles that lead to the mumble rap and whining sounds of today.
Wayne came from an independent black owned label in the 1990s. That someone has to explain this to your stupid ass is enough to let me know you don’t know shit about hip hop.
I hate John Legend with a passion. Biggest fruitcake sell out. Trump is the real 20v1. Media keeps destroying him because media is ran by democrats. Wake up people. Trump is the biggest OG who keeps it real and doesn’t act like a politician
You and I both …I can’t stand this guy ..unloyal bozo he can’t control his wife
Conquer and divide. Trump policies are solid. This BS is just used to stoke the flames of hatred and drive a wedge between people over stupidity.
What’s his policies? He has none except egging on bullshit at every turn.
@Silent_partner Not funding numerous wars with taxpayer money is a start. Securing the border is another one. Reducing crime. Reducing inflation. Reducing gas costs, etc, etc. Turn of MSNBC for a while and get back to the real world
All the same shit that’s going on overseas was going on under Trump. You surely can’t be this stupid. Let me check when the military budget decreased under Trump. Oh right, it didn’t. Get his dick out your ass.
you think so tigger
John Legend’s wife’s hat size divided by John Legend’t hat size =. infinity
The level of ignorance is crazy to me. Just looking at the comments. Maybe John legend should talk about Joe biden. All the racist things he’s said over the years. The 94 crime bill was bad enough.
No he doesn’t, shut up
That’s why we have Dr Umar Johnson
Those doing the name calling are the ones to worry about…. They talk racism because they are——- YOU GUESSED IT! RACIST!!!!
The resident retard Berna dett the fuglly Jooooo Gia comazzo is the biggest Trump stan there is. This laughable l0ser Berna dett donated her entire 2023 salary of 123.75 from her B/S gig of copying n pasting corny gossip to Trump’s 2024 campaign.
John Legend sucks.