politics
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Jennifer Lopez delivered an important PSA Wednesday (Oct. 23), less than two weeks ahead of the presidential election — and she did it through song. Sitting behind a piano next to actress Jenifer Lewis and vocal coach Stevie Mackey in a video posted to social media, the “On the Floor” singer and her friends belted […]
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Source: Michael Buckner / Getty
Beyoncé will be appearing with Kamala Harris in Houston on Friday, October 25. The music icon will be performing.
The Washington Post first reported that Beyoncé would be linking up with Harris on the campaign trail and will be appearing with her mother Tina Knowles, and Country music legend Willie Nelson, too.
BREAKING: Beyoncé will appear with Vice President Harris at her event in Houston, Texas on Friday and is set to perform. pic.twitter.com/DM0U8X8VgW
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) October 24, 2024
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This pending official endorsement from Queen Bey was inevitable. While Donald Trump’s music selection usually ends up with cease and desist letters, Beyoncé co-signed the Harris Walz campaign’s use of her 2016 song “Freedom” as a rallying cry.
With less than two weeks to the election Harris is pulling out all the stop’s and Bey’s participation is looking legit, unlike her rumored appearance at the Democratic National Convention. In reality, Beyoncé was never scheduled to attend the DNC.
Also, Bey just dropped a new fragrance.
https://twitter.com/BeyLegion/status/1849436410865914130
As you could have guessed, the Bey Hive is going crazy on X (formerly known as Twitter). Don’t take our word for it, see below.
This is a developing story.
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Barack Obama demonstrated several times that he is aligned with Hip-Hop culture in several aspects, and a recent appearance at a rally for Vice President Kamala Harris adds to that assessment. During the rally in Detroit, Mich., with Eminem bringing out the former president, Barack Obama rapped the opening bars of the Motor City rapper’s smash hit “Lose Yourself” to uproarious applause.
Barack Obama was in Detroit on Tuesday (October 22) to rally voters in support of Vice President Harris, with several thousand in attendance. Ahead of Obama taking the stage, native son Eminem took to the podium to bring the popular former president out in proper fashion.
With Obama taking his place, his typical charm was on display and elevated when he talked through the lines of “Lose Yourself” with the crowd backing him up which only seemed to energize the moment further.
From there, Obama launched into his talking points and took digs at Harris’ opponent, Donald Trump, including reports of his dwindling crowd sizes, attacks on legal immigrants in Ohio, and generally painting the Republican presidential hopeful as a man lacking the traits to lead the country to better pastures.
“Any election is about more than policies, it’s about values and it’s about character,’ Obama said, as reported by the Detroit Free Press.
“Whether this election is making you feel excited or scared or hopeful or frustrated, or anything in between, do not sit back and hope for the best,” Obama said. “Don’t just hope, get off your couch and vote. Vote for Kamala Harris.”
On X, reactions to Barack Obama, including his rapping of Eminem’s bars, have been positive. We’ve got some of them listed below. We have the video clip in question below as well, courtesy of MSNBC.
Obama raps Eminem’s “Lose Yourself,” after being introduced by the rapper at a rally for Harris in Detroit, MI. pic.twitter.com/MqXJzplZPY
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) October 23, 2024
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Photo: Getty
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John Kelly, a former Marine general and former Chief of Staff to Donald Trump during his presidency, revealed insights into the former president’s political aims in a series of new interviews. In them, John Kelly framed Trump as a fascist who displayed an affinity for dictators.
John Kelly joins a growing list of former Trump staffers who have plenty to say about the business mogul’s aims in returning to the White House. In a piece published by The Atlantic on Tuesday (October), Trump’s disdain of the military and his desire for the armed forces to display fealty was on display, including Trump allegedly offering to pay for a slain soldier’s funeral but balking at the $60,000 bill and referring to the Army private as a “f*cking Mexican.”
Later in the piece, two people who say they were close to Trump overheard the former president say during a private conversation, “I need the kind of generals that Hitler had” but this was later shot down by Trump spokesperson Alex Pfeiffer.
As the profile continues, the remarks Trump made regarding Hitler’s generals resurface and reference The Divider: Trump in the White House, a book by Peter Baker and Susan Glasser. In their book, the pair look deeper into a conversation between Trump and Kelly with the former president asking the former general why he couldn’t be more like the German generals, assuming that they pledged complete loyalty to the Naz leader.
Kelly explained that Hitler’s generals attempted to assassinate him but Trump, apparently not someone who studied war history to the level Kelly had, was undeterred. In a quick follow-up chat with The Atlantic, it was made clear that Trump truly believed in the falsehood that all of Hitler’s generals were in his service.
In the New York Times, the outlet shared details of a recorded interview with Kelly, who was asked if he thought Trump was a fascist.
Kelly answered, “Well, looking at the definition of fascism. It’s a far-right authoritarian, ultranationalist political ideology and movement characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hierarchy. So certainly, in my experience, those are the kinds of things that he thinks would work better in terms of running America.”
Kelly added, “Certainly the former president is in the far-right area, he’s certainly an authoritarian, admires people who are dictators, he has said that. So he certainly falls into the general definition of fascist, for sure.”
The Kamala HQ X account reshared the audio interview to its 1.4 million followers, garnering replies expressing shock but also replies from the MAGA faithful seeking to portray John Kelly as a jilted former employee.
Q: Do you think Trump is a fascist?
Trump’s Chief of Staff John Kelly: Well, I’m looking at the definition of fascism. It’s a far-right movement with a dictatorial leader and forcible suppression of opposition… So certainly in my experience, he falls into the definition of a… pic.twitter.com/1znyIrkzJ8
— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) October 23, 2024
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Former President Barack Obama lost himself in the music, the moment on Tuesday night (Oct. 22) at Kamala Harris and Tim Walz’s Detroit rally ahead of the 2024 presidential election next month. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The Detroit native rapper took the stage to introduce […]
Palestinian DJ Sama’ Abdulhadi says she “did not approve” the use of her image in a new ad from the Kamala Harris presidential campaign.
In a statement posted Tuesday (Oct. 22) to social media, the techno producer wrote that “the use of this footage was unauthorized and done without my consent. The use of this footage implies that I endorse Vice President Harris’s presidential candidacy, which is totally and utterly false; it is deeply offensive to my social, moral and political beliefs and is misleading political advertising by VP Harris’s presidential campaign.”
The commercial in question is titled “Detroit vs. Trump” and was released amid heavy campaigning by Harris and her running mate Tim Walz in the 2024 swing state. The ad contains footage of Adulhadi performing at Detroit’s annual Movement festival this past May.
“For the avoidance of doubt,” Abdulhadi’s statement continues, “I do not endorse nor have I ever endorsed, Vice President Harris, and I am taking the necessary legal steps to ensure that this video is promptly retracted, to dispel any notion of an association between myself and VP Harris’ campaign for the U.S. presidency.” In the caption, she writes that “I am Sama’ Abdulhadi, and I did not approve this message! I don’t endorse any US political party.”
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Abdulhadi’s statement comes amid continued criticism of the Harris campaign by many Muslim and Arab Americans, given the Biden administration’s support of Israel amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. This conflict is estimated to have killed more than 40,000 Palestinians since the war began last October.
The New York Times reports that in an effort to win the votes of Arab and Muslim voters, the Harris campaign has “launched Facebook ads targeting Muslims, created WhatsApp channels and distributed fact sheets with Ms. Harris’s most forceful statements on the war in Gaza. And in private meetings in living rooms and basements across the country, including in the battleground states of Michigan, Georgia and Pennsylvania, campaign workers are trying to reach voters who say they may stay home, vote third party or even vote for former President Donald J. Trump because of the Biden administration’s policies in the Middle East.”
Green Party candidate Jill Stein commented on Abdulhadi’s post, writing, “Wow…unbelievable.”
Speaking at the Amsterdam Dance Event last week in the Dutch capital, Abdulhadi spoke on her position as a Palestinian artist. “The resistance is doing what the people in the Arab world and what the young people in universities are doing,” she said. “The people’s movement is the thing that is now pushing me to do things, and that’s why I’m still DJing. I would have literally quit the industry a year ago if it wasn’t for for that; if it wasn’t for the crowds that I’m getting now. Every gig I do now is a protest.”
With two weeks to go until Election Day on Nov. 5, many other artists are rallying around the vice president. Eminem is scheduled to make a rare public appearance Tuesday night at a Detroit rally for Harris, where he will reportedly introduce former president Barack Obama at the event supporting the VP and Walz.
With the presidential election just two weeks away, Bruce Springsteen is getting involved. The Boss will be performing at a series of When We Vote We Win shows this month in support of Kamala Harris and her vice presidential pick, Tim Walz. The two events will take place alongside Harris and former President Barack Obama […]
Eminem is set to make a rare public appearance on Tuesday evening (Oct. 22) at a Detroit rally supporting Democratic party candidate Kamala Harris.
According to CNN and the Wall Street Journal, Slim Shady is slated to introduce former president Barack Obama at the event supporting the VP and her running mate, Tim Walz.
Michigan is reportedly a tight race as a swing state in the upcoming presidential election — which is only two weeks away.
Rather than perform at the rally, Em is expected to speak and give his thoughts on the election before introducing Obama to the crowd.
Billboard has reached out to Eminem’s reps as well as the Harris-Walz campaign and Democratic National Committee for comment.
Eminem co-signed the Biden-Harris presidential ticket in 2020 when his Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 “Lose Yourself” provide the soundtrack to an ad for Joe Biden just a day prior to the 2020 election. Obama also cited the 2002 8 Mile soundtrack anthem as an inspiration behind his presidential run in ’08.
Eminem hasn’t been one to mince words about Donald Trump. He’s been critical of the former president on different occasions in the past, dating back to his “Campaign Speech” prior to the 2016 election and his “The Storm” freestyle at the 2017 BET Awards.
“I get almost flustered thinking about him — that’s how angry he makes me,” he told Vulture in 2017. “The people that support him are the people he cares about the least and they don’t even realize it.”
Em continued: “At what point do you — a working-class citizen, someone who’s trying to make s–t better for you and your family — think this guy who’s never known struggle his entire f–king life, who avoided the military because of bone spurs, who says he’s a billionaire, is really looking out for you? He’s got people brainwashed.”
The rally is slated to run from 5 p.m. ET to 9 p.m. ET. Harris ramped up efforts in Michigan while hosting an early voting event over the weekend that featured appearances from Lizzo and Usher.
“They say if Kamala Harris wins, the whole country will be like Detroit,” Lizzo said. “Proud like Detroit. Resilient like Detroit. The same Detroit that innovated the auto industry and the music industry. Put some respect on Detroit’s name!”
Vice President Kamala Harris appeared with Lizzo on Saturday (Oct. 19) in the singer’s hometown of Detroit, marking the beginning of in-person voting and lavishing the city with praise after Republican nominee Donald Trump recently disparaged it.
“All the best things were made in Detroit. Coney Dogs, Faygo and Lizzo,” the singer joked to a rally crowd, pointing to herself after listing off the meat-on-a-stick and soda that the city is famous for.
She said it was time to “put some respect on Detroit’s name” noting that the city had revolutionized the auto and music industries and adding that she’d already cast her ballot for Harris since voting early was “a power move.”
Heaps of praise for the Motor City came after Trump, the former president, insulted it during a recent campaign stop. And Harris continued the theme, saying of her campaign, “Like the people of Detroit, we have grit, we have excellence, we have history.”
Arms wide open as she took the stage, Harris let the crowd see she was wearing under her blazer a “Detroit vs. Everybody” T-shirt that the owner of the business that produces them gave her during a previous stop in the city earlier in the week. She also moved around the stage during her speech with a hand-held mic, not using a teleprompter.
More than 1 million Michigan residents have already voted by mail in the Nov. 5 election, and Harris predicted that Detroit turnout for early voting would be strong.
“Who is the capital of producing records?” Harris asked when imploring the crowd to set new highs for early voting tallies. “We are going to break some records here in Detroit today.”
She slammed Trump as unstable: “Somebody just needs to watch his rallies, if you’re not really sure how to vote.”
“We’re not going to get these 17 days back. On Election Day, we don’t want to have any regrets,” the vice president said.
Lizzo also told the crowd, “Mrs. Commander-in-Chief has a nice ring to it.”
“This is the swing state of all swing states, so every last vote here counts,” the singer said. Then, referencing her song of the same title, Lizzo added, “If you ask me if America is ready for its first woman president, I only have one thing to say: It’s about damn time!”
Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley said in a statement that Harris needed Lizzo “to hide the fact that Michiganders were feeling good under President Trump – real wages were higher, prices were lower, and everyone was better off.”
Talona Johnson, a product manager from Rochester, Michigan, attended Harris’ rally and said that Harris “and her team are doing the things that are required to make sure that people are informed.”
“I believe she’s telling the truth. She’s trying to help the people,” said Johnson, who said she planned to vote for Harris and saw women’s rights as her top concern.
“I don’t necessarily agree with everything that she’s put out, but she’s better than the alternative.”
In comments to reporters prior to the rally, Harris said she was in Detroit “to thank all the folks for the work they are doing to help organize and register people to vote, and get them out to vote today. She also called Detroit “a great American city” with “a lot of hard-working folks that have grit and ambition and deserve to be respected.”
The vice president was asked about whether the Biden administration’s full-throated support for Israel in its war with Hamas in Gaza might hurt her support in Michigan. Dearborn, near Detroit, is the largest city with an Arab majority in the nation.
“It has never been easy,” Harris said of Middle East policy. “But that doesn’t mean we give up.”
She will get more star power later Saturday when she holds a rally in Atlanta featuring another wildly popular singer, Usher.
Early voting is also underway in Georgia. More than 1.2 million ballots have been cast, either in person or by mail. Democrats hope an expansive organizing effort will boost Harris against Trump in the campaign’s final weeks.
Roderick Williams, 56, brought his three daughters to Harris’ Atlanta rally. His youngest daughter was born around the time former president Barack Obama entered office, and he hopes they can witness history again by seeing Harris become the first Black woman to be president.
“It’s important for them to see that anything’s possible,” Williams said.
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Donald Trump has often touted his ability to campaign nonstop while claiming that despite his age, his energy is at an optimal level. However, that didn’t seem to be the case when Donald Trump reportedly backed out of an interview with The Shade Room platform with his aides citing exhaustion as the reason.
With Vice President Kamala Harris wading into hostile waters by appearing on Fox News and employing a strategy of visiting non-traditional media platforms, including The Shade Room, Donald Trump has played it relatively safe.
Trump did have some interesting showings this week on the campaign trail, most especially a discussion with John Micklethwait, editor-in-chief of Bloomberg News, which devolved into testy exchanges and avoided answers on tough subjects. That followed a Monday town hall event that took a bizarre turn after it morphed into an all-out dance party after two attendees had a medical emergency.
According to POLITICO, Trump’s appearance on The Shade Room would’ve placed the former president squarely in the sights of a largely young Black audience, a demographic both camps are framing as important to winning the election in November. Vice President Harris, as part of her ongoing media blitz, has appeared on the platform along with podcasts and meeting with media figures such as Charlamagne Tha God among others.
From POLITICO:
The Trump campaign had been in conversations for weeks with The Shade Room about a sit-down interview. The site, which draws an audience that is largely young and Black, hosted an interview with Harris just last week.
But as no interview materialized, Shade Room staff began feeling that feet were being dragged inside Trump’s campaign. No date was ever set, we’re told, but the intention was to try and work toward a sit-down.
In a conversation earlier this week, when describing why an interview hadn’t come together just yet, a Trump adviser told The Shade Room producers that Trump was “exhausted and refusing [some] interviews but that could change” at any time, according to two people familiar with the conversations.
As the outlet notes, this shows a pattern of Trump backing out of scheduled interviews but also shared a statement from Trump’s spokesperson that the news of him being exhausted stating that the news is false.
On X, formerly Twitter, people are sharing their thoughts about Donald Trump and his current campaign media appearance schedules.
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