On Wednesday's episode of Fox's The Masked Singer, the donut brought the audience to tears with his soulful rendition of Joe Cocker's “You Are So Beautiful.” But the man behind the pastry chef costume, former Dukes of Hazzard star John Schneider, recently posted a very ugly comment about President Joe Biden on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
In a since-deleted reply, Schneider wrote: “Mr President, I believe you are guilty of treason and should be publicly hanged. Your son too. Your answer is…? Sincerely, John Schneider.” After the reveal of “Masked Singer,” screenshots of Schneider's post circulated online.
Fox declined to comment on the post. In a statement provided to EW by a representative on Thursday, Schneider said: “Seriously, guys? This is my last comment on this. I neither said nor implied anything like that. Although the headlines claimed otherwise, my post was not at all calling for an act of violence or a threat against a US president, as many other celebrities have done in the past. I recommend you re-read my actual post and pay attention to the words before believing this nonsense.”
Nick Cannon and John Schneider on “The Masked Singer.”
Michael Becker/FOX
He added: “It is my position that some of our country's leaders have lost their way in Washington and corruption is rampant both at our country's borders and abroad. Transparency and accountability must be ensured so that our constitutional republic must survive. There is no threat or threat in this statement.
In an interview before his reveal on The Masked Singer, the actor told EW that his role as Donut helped him deal with the loss of his wife, Alicia Allain Schneider, who passed away in February. “It helped me heal,” he said. “I'll tell you, seeing how the judges responded to the story and the songs was the most healing part of it for me. Seeing them actually cry, the comments they made about Robin.” [Thicke] He lost his father – there were a lot of people hurting. So I was able to share that I think my story and my personal challenges during the show even helped the judges.
Schneider, who frequently posts criticism of President Biden on social media, is not the first politically polarizing candidate to appear on The Masked Singer. In 2022, host Ken Jeong reportedly stormed the set when the Jack in the Box was revealed to be disgraced lawyer/conspiracy theorist/convicted fabulist Rudy Guilliani.
“Ken has been incredibly vocal about how the previous administration handled many things, but particularly COVID-19, and has noted that much of what they said is not only wrong but dangerous.” , a source told PEOPLE at the time. “Putting someone who helped spread misinformation and questioned the veracity of our elections and our democracy on his show would have angered him.”
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