Katy Perry took a moment during her hosting duties at Sunday night’s MTV Video Music Awards to poke fun at President Donald Trump for losing the popular vote during the 2016 presidential election to Democrat Hillary Clinton, though he ultimately ended up winning the presidency.
The “Roar” singer got the quick dig in while encouraging fans to vote in the Best New Artist category, for either Julia Michaels or Khalid.
“Listen, guys, this is one election where the popular vote actually matters,” Perry joked. “So vote online, but hurry up, before some random Russian pop star wins!”
Perry commented on the state of America and took some veiled jabs at Trump during her opening monologue Sunday night.
After pretending she’d spent the previous year in space, the singer flew in to the arena on a pulley system in a space suit.
“You figured out all of the problems in the world right now and the world is doing so well, right?” she asked sarcastically, before being handed a newspaper with the headline “The World Is On Fire.” “How the f*ck are you coping right now?” she added, before joking that fidget spinners may have successfully done the trick.
Perry was one of Hillary Clinton’s biggest celebrity supporters during the 2016 race. The singer performed at the Democratic National Convention and at an election-eve get-out-the-vote rally in Philadelphia in support of Clinton, and marched in the anti-Trump Women’s March on Washington when Trump won.
Clinton was reported to have to have won nearly 3 million more votes than Trump across the country in the election; however, Trump prevailed decisively in the Electoral College.
In an April interview with Vogue magazine, Perry said that Trump’s victory brought back “childhood trauma” for her.
Follow Daniel Nussbaum on Twitter: @dznussbaum
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