TLC’s Chilli denies she is MAGA after donations were made public: ‘I did not read the fine print’
TheGrio...
The “No Scrubs” singer claims that her donations were not meant to go to MAGA Republicans, but to causes against human trafficking and for veterans.
TLC’s Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas is denying the MAGA allegations, saying she just didn’t “read the fine print” on her donation.
The singer wrote a statement on Instagram last night after the internet called her political affiliations into question following a report by Media News that she had donated to Donald Trump’s campaign. The outlet cited FEC records that showed Thomas donated to several MAGA Republicans through her contributions to Trump’s PACs, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, and Republican Senator Ted Cruz.
On Saturday, Thomas said on Instagram, “I WANT TO BE CLEAR: I am not MAGA and do not support any of the many policies that are causing great harm to the American people. I made a mistake too many make: I did not read the fine print.”
According to the FEC filings, Rozonda Thomas of Stone Mountain, Georgia, made 17 donations between April 2024 and November 2024, for a total of $897.14. She claims in the new post that the money was meant for other causes.
“I thought I was supporting causes against human trafficking and for veterans,” Thomas said in her statement. “Two things I care deeply about as my dad is a veteran and everyone knows I love children. I have learned a valuable lesson and ask for grace as I navigate this.”
Followers of the “Waterfalls” singer said that her donations to MAGA Republicans made sense after she shared a now-deleted post recently that supported a false conspiracy theory that former First Lady Michelle Obama was not born female, and was registered to vote as a man in the state of Illinois in 1994. This is a transphobic conspiracy theory “transvestigation,” which targets and accuses prominent female public figures, many of whom are Black women, of being secretly transgender. It usually originates in ultra-right-wing, extremist online circles, but the messaging and disinformation can disseminate into more mainstream online communities.
Thomas called the repost of the conspiracy theory an accident, and said she had “no clue” that she did it.
“I have the utmost respect for Michelle Obama, and I would never say or do anything that is disrespectful to her or to any woman,” she said. I would never do that.”
The singer said she pushed the repost button without realizing, and only took it off her page after she was alerted to it by people calling and texting her.
“Clearly, I was scrolling and my thumb hit the repost button. Again, I had no clue that something like this happened until I got all the calls.”