Still-Here Peter Andre Backpedals After Copping Heat For Pro-Trump Column

British-Australian Strictly Come Dancing alumnus Peter Andre has qualified comments made in support of US President Donald Trump in a recent column for New! magazine after receiving criticism from fans.

As the Huffington Post reports, Andre's column was published on Tuesday this week, and contained an argument for supporting the nascent head of state that was interpreted by some readers to be an endorsement of Trump's recently implemented so-called Muslim ban.

In the column, Andre says that he "quite like[s]" Trump — "He's bonkers, but he's funny with it," the I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here! season-three contestant wrote — and that, "[a]t the end of the day, he's the President of the US and people need to accept that".

"He has to be given a chance and I think he may make some positive changes for America," Andre wrote. "I know there are people who will disagree with me, but from what I've seen and heard so far, he's been pretty true to what he said he was going to do."

That apparent adherence to campaign promises has been maintained this week with the introduction of the United States' 'Muslim ban'. Rolled out earlier this week, the policy — which is technically not an outright ban, despite the ubiquity of the term — is aimed at restricting travel to the US by citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. Though not without its supporters, the move has faced wide condemnation from several world leaders and populaces.

However, one-time Big Star's Little Star guest Andre says that he had written the column a week in advance of its publication, and that the restriction was neither anticipated nor among Trump's policies with which he personally agrees.

"I wrote my column last week before he put this ban on, which I totally disagree with," Andre told one fan who had expressed concern.

"I can assure you there's many things I disagree with regarding his choices and one is this terrible ban," he assured another.

Andre ultimately went on to say that, "after recent days, I'm not so sure" that he even believes that Trump is still capable of running the United States — a key point of the original article, which was published in New! under the title 'Thumbs up for Trump'.

The Sunday Scoop guest presenter is presently working on a new album, his first new release since 2015's dual efforts, Come Fly With Me and White Christmas.

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