Justin Bieber Calls Out Trump Over His Efforts to Help Free A$AP Rocky
This week we reported that Kim Kardashian and Kanye West had lobbied the Trump administration into taking action to ensure the end of A$AP Rocky's detainment in Sweden. It seems the Wests successfully convinced Donald Trump to join the "Free Rocky" movement as the president subsequently tweeted that he had spoken to Kanye and would be taking diplomatic steps to try and secure Rocky's release.
While many celebrities have weighed in on the situation in Sweden and used their platforms to call for action, the President's involvement in the case comes as one of the first major diplomatic moves on A$AP Rocky's behalf. Justin Bieber is one of the many celebrities who has urged fans to sign a Change.org petition demanding Rocky's release. On Saturday, the singer spoke out on Trump's involvement.
Addressing Trump in a Tweet, Bieber said while he appreciated Trump's helping Rocky, he criticized the President's hypocrisy back home. He added "can you also let those kids out of cages?" — referring to the migrant children currently being held in custody in cage-like structures by the U.S. government.
This is not the first case where celebrity influence swayed Trump to join a cause. Kardashian West had previously successfully appealed to the President to commute a prisoner's sentence. And now in A$AP Rocky's case Trump is showing no signs of giving up. Yesterday he claimed that he had spoken to the Swedish Prime Minister and was working on resolving the situation, even offering to personally vouch for the rapper's bail. He also said he would be planning a follow-up call within 48 hours.
However, some people are not so convinced by Trump's well-doing. CNN called Trump's claims into question, reporting that Sweden doesn't in fact have a bail system. A spokesperson for Prime Minister Lofven said on Saturday that there are no follow up calls "scheduled or planned" and that the Lofven had told Trump in the 20-minute call that his government would not be influencing the judicial process with respect to A$AP Rocky's case.
You can stay updated on the details of A$AP Rocky's detainment here.