‘Dance Moms’ Fans Erupt Into Discourse After Kalani Hilliker Endorses Donald Trump

After facing tough feedback from her former coach Abby Lee Miller during her run on Dance Moms, Kalani Hilliker is now facing feedback from the masses on social media after she appeared to endorse President Donald Trump. Fans of the Lifetime series have erupted in discourse, and Hilliker is now facing backlash, after she showed her support for the president on social media ahead of Election Day.

The controversy was sparked on Monday, when the 20-year-old, who appeared on Dance Moms from 2014 until 2017, took to her Instagram Story to share footage from Trump’s rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the final stop of his campaign. In the post, Hilliker wrote that “everyone has the freedom to express their own opinions” and encouraged her 6.1 million followers, as well as others across the country, to “come together as Americans [sic] and respect one another.” She also urged people to “use your voice and vote!”

Hilliker continued the messaging on Twitter. On Tuesday, as voters headed to the polls to cast their ballots, she wrote, “No matter who you’re voting for use your voice and vote!!! It’s your right!!!” Adding a red heart emoji and an American flag emoji, she added the hashtag “[Trump 202020].”

Her back-to-back posts immediately sparked criticism from Dance Moms fans, who were quick to respond on social media. In their criticisms, many praised Maddie Ziegler, a fellow Dance Moms star who oftentimes led the competition. Keep scrolling to see what people are saying.

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During their time on Dance Moms, Hilliker and Ziegler were often pitted against one another, vying for the coveted solo dance. Several people, in more humorous replies, joked that Zeigler deserved all the dance solos.

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At this time, Ziegler has not publicly endorsed a candidate, though she has shown some support for Biden. Just last month, she interviewed Biden’s granddaughter, Finnegan Biden. She shared the interview with her Instagram account, writing that “this is one of the most important elections of our lives and it’s time to make our voices heard.” She also encouraged her followers to “make a plan to vote.”

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Dance Moms fans also voiced their support for the other young stars of the series, including Nia Sioux and Chloe Lukasiak. For many of young dancers, the 2020 election marks their first time voting, and several have taken to social media to share that they did in fact cast their vote.

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While Ziegler has not addressed the current controversy surrounding her fellow Dance Moms star, Sioux has. In an Instagram Story Tuesday afternoon, she said that while she believes “everyone needs to respect each other… it’s so hard to respect a president who doesn’t respect me, or women, or minorities, or the LGBTQ community.”

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Sioux went on to say that she is “all for respecting people.” However, “at a certain point,” she said, “when someone can’t even denounce white supremacy how can you have respect for that person?”

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Sioux added that America “hasn’t been great and it’s not going to be great until we have people in office that care about people other than themselves.” She also shared several posts to her Story encouraging her followers to get out and vote and to remain in the lines even if they are long.

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Hilliker eventually returned to the social media platform to address the criticism. In a tweet, she wrote, “Yes at the end of the day we all need to come together as Americans no matter who wins.”