politics
Page: 9
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.
HipHopWired Featured Video
CLOSE
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.
—
Photo: Getty
Kamala Harris‘ campaign is making sure there are no blank spaces in its efforts to win over young voters, especially where Taylor Swift fans are concerned.
On the day of the pop star’s first Eras Tour show back in the United States Friday (Oct. 18), the Democratic National Committee unveiled a themed Snapchat filter available only to Swifties in battleground states that allows users to pose under a digital banner reading, “In My Voting Era.”
The filter will also let voters choose from a number of topics Harris supports to complete the phrase, “Be fearless for …” in reference to the 14-time Grammy winner’s hit 2008 album Fearless. To fill in the blank, users can select from a menu containing “Democracy,” “Reproductive rights,” “Climate action” and more.
“This election will determine the future for young voters, from student loan debt relief and economic opportunity to whether they have fewer rights than their grandmothers did,” reads a statement from Rosemary Boeglin, DNC communications director, on the new Swiftie initiative. “Democrats are reaching out to young voters where they are, from concert venues to social media platforms, to make sure they have the resources they need to cast their ballot.”
The Snapchat filter is just one of several ways Harris’ campaign has capitalized on Swift’s emphatic endorsement of the Democratic ticket in September. The VP has also been selling friendship bracelets in the style of Swifties’ favorite Eras Tour accessory on her online store, and her running mate, Tim Walz, shouted out the “Anti-Hero” musician during the vice presidential debate in early October.
“I’m as surprised as anybody of this coalition that Kamala Harris has built, from Bernie Sanders to Dick Cheney to Taylor Swift,” the Minnesota governor said at the time. “They believe in a positive future of this country, and one where our politics can be better than it is.”
In addition to the Snapchat filter, the DNC is also rolling out Swift-themed billboards this week reading, “A new way forward … ready for it?” and “We’re in our Kamala era!” — starting with a mobile ad on a boat that will be stationed near Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, where the “Karma” musician is set to play three Eras Tour shows Oct. 18-20. Florida is right next door to Georgia, one of seven key swing states in the 2024 presidential election. The other battleground states are Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Michigan, Arizona, Wisconsin and Nevada.
The billboards also direct viewers to visit IWillVote.com to ensure they’re registered to vote by Oct. 26. Election Day is Nov. 5.
In her September endorsement of Harris, Swift emphasized the importance of voting. “Your research is all yours to do, and the choice is yours to make,” she wrote at the time. “I also want to say, especially to first time voters: Remember that in order to vote, you have to be registered! I also find it’s much easier to vote early.”
Marc Anthony endorsed Kamala Harris for president in a new ad, and slammed Republican candidate Donald Trump in that same message. The endorsement was revealed on Friday (Oct. 18), just three weeks away from the Nov. 5 presidential election, considered one of the most consequential elections in recent memory. In the video, the Puerto Rican […]
HipHopWired Featured Video
CLOSE
Malcolm X might be the last historical figure to come to mind as it relates to the politics of Republican Party presidential hopeful, Donald Trump. However, a Black conservative evoked one of Malcolm X’s most famous quotes regarding “House Negroes” and “Field Negroes,” saying that those in the field are “going for Trump.”
Shelly Wynter, who refers to himself as a Traditionalist conservative, was a guest on CNN this week with anchor Sara Sidner and were having a discussion about the upcoming election race between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Wynter referenced Malcolm X’s famous 1963 speech in which the civil rights leader presented a comparison of two types of so-called Negroes, a widely used term at the time to describe Black people in America. In the speech, X lays out that the house Negro was partial to the slave owner and wanted his favor, while the field Negro held the slave owner in contempt.
Wynter, perhaps misunderstanding or misrepresenting X’s quotes, shocked the CNN panel by saying that the “field African American” to use his words would pull the lever for Trump.
“Let’s be honest here, and let’s really be clear what’s being said,” Wynter began in the now viral c. “If you’re an African American man, look, let me boil this election down in the African American community to a very simple [way]. I’ll reference the great Malcolm X. This race is between house African Americans and field African Americans, and a field African Americans going for Trump.”
Wynter added, “I’m talking about your men who build, your men who put things together, your men who work with their hands, your men who do things, not the men who push paper or the men are connected to power and want to continue to be connected to power, I’m talking about the men in our community who are doing the work.”
Sidner was taken aback by Wynter’s analysis and attempted to offer some pushback but was met with overtalking with Wynter deftly evading her question asking if he was putting down Black men with white-collar professions. Michael Blake, the former DNC Vice Chair and an aide to President Barack Obama, didn’t allow Wynter to own the moment and challenged his assertions.
“Is Shelley the house one or the field one?” Blake said. “I’m just trying to understand that part, I’m just trying to understand the one that’s spitting talking points right now. Are you the house Negro and the field Negro that you’re referring to? I’m just trying to make sure. Your question was about denigrating Black people, that literally was your question. You have a Republican fool who was talking right now. You literally just said Black men, this is an election about house or field. This is the nonsense that we are listening to right now by those that are supporting Donald Trump.”
The clip is still making its rounds across social media with many sharing their thoughts on why Shelly Wynter used Malcolm X’s speech to hammer his point him. We’ve got the clip in question and responses from the X platform below.
This CNN discussion goes completely off the rails when radio host Shelley Wynter says: “This race is between house African-Americans and field African-Americans, and the field African-Americans are going for Donald Trump.”
Needless to say, things broke down after that. pic.twitter.com/e1Gyh8IZX4
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) October 16, 2024
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
—
Photo: Screengrab/CNN/X/Getty
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: Octavio Jones / Getty
Sometimes the only people who are as obnoxious as Donald Trump are his supporters. Specifically, Forgiato Blow, the face-tatted MAGA rapper who turns stale Republican talking points into the wackest of wack “bars,” proving one can fit all of his political knowledge into a thimble with room to spare.
During a Tuesday Trump rally in Atlanta — where the ex-president declared that Black and Latino voters who are planning to vote for Kamala Harris “gotta have your head examined” — Blow told reporters that women who won’t vote for Trump are “Trump bigots” after offering his Caucasian opinion that “most African American men hate Kamala,” Raw Story reported.
Dumpfuck Maga rapper Forgiato Blow says a lot of women won’t vote for Donald Trump because they are
‘Trump bigots’https://t.co/0aDZV8bN17
— SiLvErFoxXx (@JFox70264801) October 16, 2024
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
“I know one thing, I know most African American men hate Kamala,” the white supremcee said. “You know, there’s a lot of women out here that just think Trump’s this and that. They’re just Trump haters, Trump bigots.”
First, let’s address Blow’s bloviating nonsense about how “most African American men hate Kamala.” White MAGA supporters have gotten themselves all in a Miss Millie frenzy over a single New York Times poll that suggests around 20% of Black male voters will vote for Trump. Even if one were to believe that singular poll and ignore the various polls that suggest otherwise, it would still leave around 80% of Black men who will cast their ballots for Harris. We certainly don’t need white men like Blow to whitesplain who we do and don’t hate, especially when his math doesn’t come anywhere near mathing.
As for the female Harris supporters Blow laughably calls “Trump bigots,” maybe the Republican nominee would be doing better with women if he weren’t an accused rapist who pays hush money to prostitutes and has bragged about grabbing random women by the genitals — all while boasting about giving the states control over women’s reproductive rights. That doesn’t make them “bigots,” it makes them voters who don’t vote against their own interests. Hell, Blow once wrote and performed a whole rap song to “show love” to Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, who, lest we forget, was under DOJ investigation over allegations of sex trafficking and having sex with minors. Maybe he’s not the one to speak on women and their reluctance to vote for accused predators.
It’s bad enough that Blow is appropriating Black culture while whitesplaining to Black people that we should hate Harris and love his white nationalist MAGA messiah, now he’s mansplaining to women that they’re bigots if they don’t vote for his favorite demonstrable bigot. Make it make sense.
https://x.com/cturnbull1968/status/1836193169479729178
A day after Rufus Wainwright and Village People co-founder Victor Willis lashed out at Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump for playing their songs during a 39-minute musical interlude at one of his campaign events, the Republican National Committee has responded to the criticism.
In a statement to Billboard, RNC spokesperson Taylor Rogers noted that the campaign has the appropriate licenses from performing rights organizations BMI and ASCAP to play the music heard at the town hall in Oaks, Pa. on Monday during which the twice impeached former President halted the planned Q&A session to cue up a playlist of his favorite songs. “It’s a shame that some artists want to limit half of the country from enjoying their music,” Rogers said.
The unusual event hosted by Trump in one of the most crucial swing states was intended to be a back-and-forth with voters. But less than an hour in, after an audience member required medical attention Trump halted the proceedings and inexplicably asked his team to fire up Schubert’s “Ave Maria.”
The strange sight of convicted felon Trump doing a swaying dance to the instrumental version of that song instantly became fodder for mockery on late night programs and news casts on Tuesday. Democratic rival Kamala Harris’ X feed piled on with a trolling statement saying “hope he’s okay” along with video from the event of Trump solemnly swinging side-to-side as he listened to his playlist in the overheated room.
“Let’s not do anymore questions. Let’s just listen to music,” Trump said after a second audience member reportedly fainted from the heat. “Personally, I enjoy this,” Trump said. “We lose weight. We could do this, lose 4-5 pounds.” He then asked his for his sound person to cue up a second version of the funeral and church service staple “Ave Maria,” requesting a vocal version sung by Luciano Pavarotti.
“We’ll do a little music. Let’s make this a musical-fest,” said Trump, whose unusual request prompted NBC News to report that the incident once again put the focus on Democrats’ questions about 78-year-old Trump’s mental acuity with just three weeks to go before the Nov. 5 presidential election; if elected a second time, Trump would be the oldest president in the nation’s history.
In addition to the “Ave Maria” double-down, Trump spun Rufus Wainwright’s cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” as well as Sinead O’Connor’s “Nothing Compares 2 U,” Oliver Anthony’s “Rich Men North of Richmond,” Guns N’ Roses’ “November Rain,” James Brown’s “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World,” Elvis’ “An American Trilogy,” the Village People’s “Y.M.C.A.” and Andrea Bocelli’s “Time to Say Goodbye,” another song often played at funerals.
Harris supporter Wainwright issued a statement on Tuesday blasting Trump for playing his version of Cohen’s beloved, oft-covered 1984 hymn.
“The song ‘Hallelujah’ by Leonard Cohen has become an anthem dedicated to peace, love and acceptance of the truth. I’ve been supremely honored over the years to be connected with this ode to tolerance,” wrote Wainwright. “Witnessing Trump and his supporters commune with this music last night was the height of blasphemy. Of course, I in no way condone this and was mortified, but the good in me hopes that perhaps in inhabiting and really listening to the lyrics of Cohen’s masterpiece, Donald Trump just might experience a hint of remorse over what he’s caused. I’m not holding my breath.” The statement also noted that the publishing company for the Cohen estate has sent a cease-and-desist order to the Trump campaign.”
GNR and O’Connor’s reps have publicly requested that Trump not to play their music during his campaign stops, and the Village People threatened to sue the former reality TV star last year over a lookalike band playing their hits at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Florida private. Trump has long been enamored with the group’s 1978 queer disco classic, which he plays a many of his events; spokespeople for GNR and O’Connor’s estate had not returned Billboard‘s request for comment on Trump’s event.
In a statement sent to Billboard on Tuesday morning, Village People co-founder, “Y.M.C.A.” lyricist and one of the owners of the song’s copyright Victor Willis wrote, “I have been inundated with hundreds of complaints from the public and press about Donald Trump and his campaign’s use of my song,” he said. “Me, and the Village People as well, have in the past opposed Trump’s use of ‘Y.M.C.A.’ and we have made this very clear to him.”
While Willis acknowledged that Trump has continued to play the song because he is “legally entitled” to thanks to what the RNC said in its statement is the proper licensing, he noted that despite his objections he will not be taking legal action at this time. “Could I have asked my wife, who’s a lawyer, to have BMI revoke his political use license… yes,” Willis said, adding that he decided not to because Trump’s repeated spins have “greatly benefited” the song.
“Some fans are demanding that I sue. I am not going to sue the President over his use of ‘Y.M.C.A.’ because it’s stupid and just plain hateful,” Willis said. “Though I don’t dislike Trump, I am a registered Democrat who supports Kamala Harris for President.” He added that Harris is also free to play the song if she wants to.
Trump has accrued a long list of artists who have objected to his use of their songs at his events, including, over two weeks this summer, Beyoncé, the Foo Fighters and Jack White, who blasted him for using their music without permission. They joined a long roster of acts who’ve made similar requests since Trump launched his first presidential bid in 2015, one that includes: Adele, Panic! at the Disco’s Brendon Urie, Celine Dion, Earth, Wind & Fire, George Harrison, Neil Young, Isaac Hayes, Linkin Park, Nickelback, Ozzy Osbourne, Prince’s estate and R.E.M., among many others.
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: Tom Williams / Getty
Somehow, we find ourselves in a national conversation about Black men and our reluctance to support Vice President Kamala Harris over ex-President Donald Trump. Over the weekend, the New York Times released a poll that shows Vice President Harris at 78% among likely Black voters, which puts her nine points behind where President Joe Biden was with Black voters in 2020. Other polls show Trump hasn’t gained nearly as much support among Black voters as the Times poll indicates, but with Election Day right around the corner, and the race being a tie right down the middle, Harris supporters are clearly concerned.
One Democrat who doesn’t appear to be as worried as some is Sen. Raphael Warnock, who made an appearance on CNN Tuesday to assure folks that Black men are going to turn out for Harris and remind us that Trump’s history with Black men includes full-page ads in multiple publications calling for the execution of the Central Park Five (now the Exonerated Five).
“Listen, let me tell you something this morning. Black men are not going to vote for Donald Trump in any significant numbers. There’ll be some. We’re not a monolith,” Warnock told CNN’s Dana Bash, who asked him about the Times poll. “But as Black folk in general, and Black men in particular, consider who Donald Trump is, as they consider the fact that this is the man who literally took out a full-page ad in the New York Times saying that these young teenagers back in the 1980s who were accused of a horrific crime should receive the death penalty.
“And then when it was proven that the Exonerated Five, the Central Park Five, were actually innocent, Donald Trump has shown no deal of concern about what they went through, no deal – no bit of contrition about it,” Warnock continued. “He’s doubled down on his position. This is who he is. And black men know that as they watch him deal with his own criminal problems and concerns, that the criminal justice system certainly doesn’t handle them the way it handles him.”
Not that we needed to go that far back in history to find instances where Trump was being brazenly racist, but Warnock told no lies. Even after they were exonerated after they were wrongly accused as teenagers of attacking and raping a white woman in Central Park in 1989, Trump made it clear he still had it in for the five Black and Latino men, one of whom, Yusef Salaam, has been outspoken about his disdain for Trump as well as his support for Harris.
Anyway, all of this comes not long after former President Barack Obama made a stop in Pittsburg and addressed the topic of Black men who are reluctant or unwilling to vote for Harris, saying, “Part of it makes me think — and I’m speaking to men directly — part of it makes me think that, well, you just aren’t feeling the idea of having a woman as president, and you’re coming up with other alternatives and other reasons for that.” His remarks sparked controversy with some accusing the ex-president of setting Black men up to be scapegoated should Harris lose in November.
Warnock didn’t address the controversy, but he did emphasize that the distinction between Harris and Trump is clear and that Black men, while not a “monolith,” can see that Trump is not our orangey-white savior.
“On the other hand, you’ve got Kamala Harris, who in her work as a prosecutor found ways to give people a path towards a better life, who has spent her whole life as a lawyer, as a senator, and now as vice president, centering the concerns of ordinary people,” Warnock said. “Again, we’re not a monolith, but this idea that large numbers of Black men are going to vote for Donald Trump, it’s not going to happen.”
I guess we’ll see in a few short weeks.
On Tuesday night (Oct. 15), Fat Joe and Too Short sat down with Vice President Kamala Harris during the 2024 BET Hip Hop Awards to discuss a bevy of pressing issues ahead of this year’s upcoming election. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “There’s a lot of misinformation […]