ldyjocelyn Posted July 8, 2020 Report Share Posted July 8, 2020 newzandar.com ‘The View’ Star Meghan McCain Shares How She Met Bestie Clay Aiken ‘The View’ Star Meghan McCain Shares How She Met Bestie Clay Aiken 3 hours ago NZ Editor Meghan McCain of The View often speaks of significant people in her life. Frequently mentioning her father, the late Senator John McCain, and her husband Ben Domenech, the conservative co-host will also drop in brief references of her friendship with former American Idol star Clay Aiken. The View panelist previously revealed in one of the show’s online segments how the two became BFFs, adding that Aiken has a surprising area of expertise. From ‘American Idol’ to ‘The Apprentice’ Aiken rose to fame in 2003 during his run on season two of American Idol. According to Billboard, the North Carolina native earned first runner-up, losing the title to Ruben Studdard by less than 135,000 votes in a total of 24 million cast. His debut album Measure of a Man in 2003 achieved certified platinum status largely in part to his hit single “Invisible.” Aiken also took on Broadway in the 2005 play Monty Python’s Spamalot. The former reality star earned some more TV credits, appearing on shows including The Office and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Competing in The Celebrity Apprentice in season 12, Aiken ironically came in second again to Arsenio Hall. McCain had been offered a spot on the show at one point but due to her distaste for the program, she declined. The View panelist took the high road on her comments regarding the competition since her pal was one of its stars. “I thought it was a dumb show,” McCain said, according to People. “No offense. My dear close friend Clay Aiken came in second, so I shouldn’t talk too much s— about it.” The singer tried his hand at politics in 2014, making an unsuccessful run for Congress from North Carolina in the midterm elections. Meghan McCain praises Clay Aiken McCain has often dropped Aiken’s name expressing that he definitely holds a special place in her heart. The View star even had the southern crooner play a pivotal role in her wedding in November 2017. “I pulled Clay Aiken out of retirement to sing and got my dad to cry,” McCain revealed, according to People. During one of the panel’s table talks on The View, McCain shared how Aiken gave her support during a nerve-wracking physician visit. “I actually had to go to the doctor and I got a mammogram and a sonogram. I’m completely fine – 100%. but I was very nervous about going and he came with me into the doctor’s office,” McCain said of Aiken, adding that the nurse was a bit starstruck by the American Idol star. “The nurse, she was like, ‘Is that Clay Aiken out there?’ I was like ‘He’s very friendly, say hi.’” The ABC co-host expressed her gratitude for Aiken’s friendship. “He’s been such an incredible friend to me for so long and I think people that go with you to things like that scary doctor’s appointment, I think that’s a real friend,” McCain explained. ‘The View’ star partners with ‘American Idol’ runner-up In The View’s online segment “Ask Me Anything,” McCain is asked how she and Aiken became besties. “Clay Aiken and I became friends like eight or nine years ago,” she said in 2018. “People were trying to put us together to do a project together or work on a show together.” The talk show star revealed a quality about Aiken that most people may not be aware of, though it makes perfect sense in what initially bonded the two. “He’s really, really, really, really good at political analysis,” McCain emphasized of The Apprentice contestant. “I know that sounds weird.” The pair remain BFFs to this day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ldyjocelyn Posted August 25, 2020 Author Report Share Posted August 25, 2020 nytimes.com I'm not posting the entire article, but Clay gets a brief mention in this article on Donald Trump Jr. Donald Trump Jr. is Ready. But for What, Exactly? Quote In 2001, he moved back to New York City and took his place at the company. But his greatest contribution to the family business came on the set of “The Apprentice,” which he joined as an occasional boardroom judge in the show’s 2006 season. He was valued by the producers as a stabilizing presence, running interference between the cast and crew and the volatile star, his father. When Trump would berate crew members for a mistake, one “Apprentice” producer recalls, Trump Jr., speaking from a well of personal experience, would console them: “It’s not your fault; it’s your turn.” People who worked on the show remember him often trying to lighten the mood. “He provided the comic relief, because his dad doesn’t have a sense of humor and Ivanka wasn’t someone who made jokes,” says Clay Aiken, the “American Idol” winner who appeared on “The Celebrity Apprentice” in 2012. “He was perfectly fine to take the piss out of himself, but sometimes he’d make a joke about his dad — and then you could tell he was really nervous his dad wouldn’t like it. His self-esteem was in the gutter.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ldyjocelyn Posted September 8, 2020 Author Report Share Posted September 8, 2020 goqnotes.com Joe Biden Will Champion Equality from the Oval Office [quote] Joe Biden Will Champion Equality from the Oval Office Op-Ed CLAY AIKEN ON SEPTEMBER 4, 2020 Former Vice President and 2020 Democratic presidental candidate Joe Biden. (Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr. CC-BY-SA 2.0 Generic license) On July 22, 2016, Donald Trump accepted the Republican Party’s presidential nomination in Cleveland. In his speech that night, Trump pledged to “do everything in [his] power to protect our LGBTQ citizens.” Almost one year later to the day, on July 26, 2017, Trump announced by tweet that “the United States Government will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military.” Unfortunately, the broken promises to the LGBTQ community don’t stop there. As he campaigned for office in 2016, Trump claimed that he would be a “real friend” to LGBTQ Americans. He claimed to support marriage equality and said he would “fight” for equal rights. Four years later, we’ve seen exactly how hollow those words were. Instead of pushing for progress and advocating reforms that would advance equality in this country, this administration has taken the exact opposite approach, rolling back hard-fought anti-discrimination protections on issues ranging from healthcare to housing to military service. With our nation more divided than ever and with hate crimes directed at the LGBTQ community on the rise, we find ourselves in a perilous moment — one that demands leadership that brings us together. But time and time again, instead of rallying Americans together in opposition to hate and discrimination, this administration has largely responded with a deafening silence or even outright hostility. The latest examples occurred within days of each other earlier this summer, when the Department of Housing and Urban Development announced a proposal that would allow homeless shelters to discriminate against transgender and gender nonconforming Americans. The announcement came just after the Department of Health and Human Services issued a similar regulation that undid healthcare protections for transgender people. Meanwhile, the Trump administration even directed its lawyers to argue to the Supreme Court that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 should not apply to gay and transgender workers — leaving them susceptible to being fired over their sexual orientation or gender identity. Throughout the course of this presidency, we have seen that LGBTQ rights are not just at risk — they are under attack. When I came out publicly in 2008, our country’s laws and attitudes on equality were very different, and in the years after, I was encouraged to see the tremendous progress America was making. Since Trump became President, however, our progress has stalled and even reversed. It’s been upsetting to see our rights at the mercy of the occupant of the White House. It couldn’t be more evident that come November, we need to take the first step towards moving back in the right direction. We need a President who will set a tone of inclusion and equality from the Oval Office, and Joe Biden has already shown us exactly the kind of leadership he will bring to the job. In the U.S. Senate, he championed the Matthew Shepard and James L. Byrd Hate Crimes Act. As Vice President, he worked to end Don’t Ask Don’t Tell and proudly announced his support for marriage equality before it was politically popular. And now, as a candidate for President, Biden has pledged his support for legislation like the Equality Act, which will ensure that discrimination on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation ends. Throughout his career in public service, Joe Biden has been a staunch ally for the LGBTQ community. His commitment to the cause of equality speaks for itself, and it’s exactly what we need in the White House.[/quote] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ldyjocelyn Posted December 16, 2020 Author Report Share Posted December 16, 2020 inquisitr.com Meghan McCain Longs For Holiday Fun With Bestie Clay Aiken: ‘Screw COVID’ [quote] Meghan McCain Longs For Holiday Fun With Bestie Clay Aiken: ‘Screw COVID’ RICH POLK/THEO WARGO / GETTY IMAGES CELEBRITIES Lucille Barilla Meghan McCain appears to long for some holiday fun with her bestie Clay Aiken. She shared a slideshow of images of the two throughout the years in honor of this most festive season. To vent her frustration, The View panelist wrote “screw covid” in the caption of her Instagram upload, as she and Clay will not be able to visit one another in person due to the spike in coronavirus cases across the United States. Meghan noted how much she missed her pal, who came in second to Ruben Studdard on the second season of American Idol in 2003. They have been keeping in touch with regular FaceTime chats, but Meghan claimed it just wasn’t the same. She shared a slideshow of eight images where the pals were seen in various scenarios over the years. In a 2018 segment for The View called “Ask me Anything,” seen on YouTube here, Meghan revealed that she and Clay became friends years ago after the two were asked to work on a project together. Meghan said her pal was really good at political analysis. Clay ran for the United States House of Representatives in North Carolina’s 2nd congressional district in 2014. He won the Democratic primary but lost to Republican incumbent Renee Ellmers in the general election, reported Time Magazine. The two were seen in the first snap seated alongside one another, smiling for the camera. In a second snap, Meghan and Clay posed with President-elect Joe Biden. In a third photo, Meghan and fellow The View panelist Sunny Hostin posed with the singer during one of his holiday concerts with Ruben. The two performed a traditional stage show where they joked and sang holiday classics along with some of their greatest hits. The show ran in New York City in both 2018 and 2019. Another photograph captured the pair in a casual moment as they shared a meal while working on their respective laptops. They were dressed to impress in a subsequent snap for the IAVA Heroes Gala, where they posed together on the red carpet. In other snaps, the two attended a performance of Broadway’s Frozen and wore extra-large Best Friend necklace halves. Fans loved Meghan’s sentiment and hoped she would be able to reunite with Clay soon. “I love the fact that your best friend is Clay Aikens one of the most amazing human beings to walk the earth and you are too,” wrote one follower. “I love Clay Aiken since American Idol, his singing moves me,” penned a second fan. “How lucky to have Clay Aiken as a bestie!” claimed a third Instagram user.[/quote] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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