Gospel music legend Sandi Patty is speaking out about a recent video that was briefly posted on, then deleted from, President Donald Trump’s Truth Social account, a video that included a racist animation of former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
In an Instagram video, Patty spoke directly to Trump, saying, “Mr. President, my name is Sandi Patty. I’m a follower of Jesus, a registered Republican, and I’m very proud to be an American. After a very thoughtful 24 hours, I wanted to share with you some heartfelt thoughts.”
“Mr. President, the video on Truth Social was inexcusable,” Patty continued. “You owe America, especially Black America, an apology. I’m grateful that the video has been taken down. Thank you, but to be honest, it is not enough. Anyone in the free world, let alone the not free world, knows that the images on that video is the pinnacle of a racial insult.”
Patty added, “There is no explaining it away. There’s no offloading it to a low-level staff member. The buck stops with you, sir. My son needs you to do better. My son is a man of color, the millions of people of color in our country need you to do better. Mr. President, we need you to set the example and we need you to do the right thing. Thank you for your time.”
Patty, known for Contemporary Christian songs including “More Than Wonderful” (with Larnelle Harris) and “Forever Friends,” has 17 top 10 projects on Billboard’s Top Christian Albums chart, including four chart-topping projects. Patty is also a five-time Grammy winner, including winning best Gospel performance, female, for “Morning Like This,” and a win for best pop Gospel album for her classic 1990 album Another Time…Another Place.
Many artists and entertainers responded to Patty’s video, including Sheryl Crow, who commented on Instagram, “I grew up listening to you sing. You had one of my favorite voices. Not just in Christian music, but across the board. Thank you for using your voice to speak truth.”
Gospel music legends CeCe Winans, BeBe Winans and Yolanda Adams also commented on Patty’s Instagram video, with CeCe commenting, “Thank you!!” along with a heart emoji. BeBe commented, “Love you, always have and always will,” along with three heart emojis. Adams responded, “Always and forever friend,” with four heart emojis.
Christian music artist Ellie Holcomb, known for songs including “I Will Carry You,” commented, “Couldn’t love you more than I do,” and adding, “Couldn’t agree more.”
Singer and comedian Mark Lowry, known for co-writing the Christmas classic “Mary, Did You Know?” and his work in the Gaither Vocal Band, responded, “Love you Sandi.”
Singer/actress Kristin Chenoweth, known for her roles in musical productions Wicked and You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown, commented simply with, “Amen.”
According to ABC News, Trump spoke with reporters about the video on Friday (Feb. 6), and claimed to have only seen the first portion of the video, saying, “I guess during the end of it, there was some kind of picture people don’t like. I wouldn’t like it either, but I didn’t see it. I just, I looked at the first part, and it was really about voter fraud.”
According to ABC News, when asked if he intended to apologize for the video, Trump said, “No, I didn’t make a mistake. I mean…I look at a lot of, thousands of things, and I looked at the beginning of it. It was fine.” The outlet reports that Trump was also asked if he condemned the racist section of the video, and he responded, “Of course I do.”
See Patty’s Instagram video below:
