Eminem, the Detroit rapper who is a vocal critic of former President Donald Trump but largely refrains from making political endorsements, is reportedly set to introduce former President Barack Obama at a rally for Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday, signaling a potentially important endorsement as polls indicate a tight race in Michigan.
Eminem will reportedly introduce former President Barack Obama at a rally for Vice President Kamala ... [+]
An unnamed Democratic official told CNN on Tuesday morning Eminem will introduce Obama at a rally for Harris in Detroit on Tuesday evening, though the rapper is not expected to perform.
Eminem seldom endorses candidates but previously gave President Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign permission to use his hit “Lose Yourself” in an ad just days before the election, which Eminem shared on his X account alongside the message: “One opportunity... #Vote.”
Eminem’s reported appearance comes days after singer Lizzo, also a Detroit native, spoke at a Harris rally in the city on Saturday, in which she slammed Trump’s claim that Harris would make the whole country “like Detroit,” praising the city as proud and resilient.
The rapper slammed Trump in a nearly eight-minute track titled “Campaign Speech” released on Oct. 19, 2016, the day of the third and final debate between Trump and then-Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Eminem called Trump a “loose cannon” who, as president, would have “his hand on the button / who doesn't have to answer to no one—great idea!” He also took aim at Trump’s supporters, rapping: “Run the faucet, I'ma dunk / A bunch of Trump supporters underwater / Snuck up on 'em in Ray-Bans in a gray van with a spray tan.” Eminem again attacked Trump in a freestyle called “The Storm” at the 2017 BET Hip-Hop Awards, calling him “a kamikaze that’ll probably cause a nuclear holocaust” and stating “racism’s the only thing he’s fantastic for.” He slammed Trump’s 2015 comments that he likes veterans who “weren’t captured,” and defended Colin Kaepernick, the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback who knelt during the national anthem, which drew Trump’s ire. In the freestyle, he took aim at his own fans who support Trump, telling them if they decide whether they’d rather stand with him or Trump, “I’ll do it for you with this: F**k you!” He again targeted Trump in his 2017 song “Like Home,” accusing Trump of racism against Black and Hispanic Americans, comparing him to Adolf Hitler. In an interview in December 2017, Eminem said Trump makes “my blood boil,” stating he “sold people a dream that’s never coming true” and expressed hopes he would be impeached.
Eminem has acknowledged some of his fanbase and Trump’s supporters—namely white working class Americans—may overlap, but the rapper has said he doesn’t care if he loses fans over his anti-Trump stance. In his 2018 song “Chloraseptic (Remix),” he rapped that he “practically cut my motherf*cking fan base in half” after his anti-Trump BET Awards performance but is still outselling other rappers. He acknowledged he had a “poor white trash” upbringing in a 2017 interview with Vulture, but said: “I actually don’t know if I can see why people who relate to me feel like they can relate to [Trump]
Eminem has taken several political stances outside of criticizing Trump, including an anti-Iraq War message in his 2004 song, “Mosh.” In the song, Eminem declares, “No more blood for oil,” and criticizes former President George W. Bush: “Let the president answer on higher anarchy / Strap him with an AK-47, let him go fight his own war / Let him impress daddy that way.” He also criticized the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022, tweeting: “As a father it pisses me off that women have fewer rights 2day than just a few days ago… we r f*ckin goin bckwards.” He also issued a cease-and-desist letter to then-candidate for the Republican presidential nomination Vivek Ramaswamy last year after he had used “Lose Yourself” at campaign rallies.
Eminem’s relationship with Trump wasn’t always adversarial. In 2004, MTV aired a live Eminem concert billed as a political event, “The Shady National Convention,” in which Trump made a speech introducing the rapper. “I know a winner when I see one, and Donald Trump is telling you right now, Slim Shady is a winner,” Trump said, adding, “He’s got Donald Trump’s vote.”
Harris and Trump are locked in a razor-thin race in Michigan, one of several “blue wall” states Biden won in 2020 that Harris is seeking to retain. Harris led Trump 49% to 47% in both a Washington Post-Schar School poll of likely voters released Monday and a Wall Street Journal poll of registered voters conducted between Sept. 28 and Oct. 8 who said they would “probably” or “definitely” vote. Trump, however, led Harris 50% to 47% in a Quinnipiac poll released Oct. 9. Harris leads Trump by 0.3 points in FiveThirtyEight’s Michigan polling average as of Tuesday, while Trump has a 1.2-point lead in Real Clear Politics’ latest polling average.
Eminem won’t stop criticizing Trump: ‘If I did lose half my fan base, then so be it’ (CNN)
Eminem attacks Donald Trump: 'He's got people brainwashed’ (The Guardian)
Michigan 2024 Trump-Harris Polls: Harris Leads Narrowly In Latest Survey (Forbes)