Iyanla Vanzant has tough words for Trump: ‘I don’t have a president’

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On her highly-rated OWN television series Iyanla: Fix My Life, life and spiritual coach Iyanla Vanzant has proclaimed to help fix many lives. One person she’s adamant on not fixing is the nation’s president, Donald Trump.

In fact, the best-selling author won’t even claim the controversial political figure as her president.

“There’s an occupant in the White House, but I do not have a president,” Vanzant said in an interview on theGrio LIVE.

Speaking on Trump’s flippant behavior she adds, “I wouldn’t let my grandchildren behave in such a way. I don’t know what that is. That’s an elected official, or that’s someone living in public housing, because the White House, as Michelle Obama told us, was built by Black folks.”

When asked if she would fix Trump’s life, Vanzant gave an unequivocal “no,” but did say who she thinks could: “Jesus.”

“But it’s not about fixing his life,” she adds. “To fix means to restore, renew and make use for the original purpose. That’s what fix means when I use it. He has a purpose–which is to love. But he’s not willing.”

But Trump isn’t the only one who fails to embody the principals of love, Vanzant says.

“People will probably throw things at me for saying this, but he is us. He’s doing publicly what we do privately. He talks like we talk, he thinks like we think. We all have comments that we make about other groups of people. We all say one thing and switch it tomorrow,” she explains. “When we get called on our bad stories and bad behavior, then we make excuses for [it]. He IS us and we’re looking at him and making it about him and we’re not changing ourselves.”

She adds:

I can look at him and say, ‘Oh, I use to say that. Oh, I use to do that.’ Look at what he does; not what comes out his mouth. Dishonesty. Who can say that haven’t been dishonest? Who can say when they get called on their stuff, for their faults and their shortcomings, that they don’t excuse it or deflect from it and start talking about something else? Who can say that they don’t have judgements and prejudices about another group or another community? As long as we keep making it about him, nothing is going to change. Everybody needs to look at him and drop to one knee and say holy spirit heal me!

Finding a little humor

Vanzant also found a way to make light of Trump’s jarring language and behavior, particularly calling Haiti and African nations “shithole” countries.

“I called my cell phone carrier and told them I wanted to upgrade my international plan to shithole, and they said ‘What?'” she said laughing.

“It must exist. Surely you cover it in your international plan because that’s where my ancestors come from. So I want to include that in my international plan. I kept them on the phone seven minutes.”

Vanzant added that because of Trump’s “violent” speech she hardly ever watches the news.

“I don’t watch the news because it’s a vexation to my spirit,” she said. “It’s a form of violence, and I don’t engage in violence. The news is a form of violence and since he’s on it everyday it’s very violent.”

See the entire interview with Iyanla Vanzant below.