Lil Wayne joins rappers giving Donald Trump support – but 50 Cent and Ice Cube don’t feel the same way
- Before heading off for some last-minute campaigning, Trump privately met hip hop artist Lil Wayne, known for hit singles such as Lollipop, A Milli and Got Money
- Fellow rapper Lil Pump also gave the US president his backing, but others including 50 Cent, Ice Cube, Cardi B, Offset, Common and Snoop Dogg aren’t fans
Lil Wayne has been feeling the heat after he became the latest prominent rapper to endorse US President Donald Trump for re-election.
In between his last-minute campaigning last week, Trump met privately with the artist, known for hit singles such as Lollipop, A Milli and Got Money.
“Just had a great meeting with @realdonaldtrump @potus besides what he’s done so far with criminal reform, the platinum plan is going to give the community real ownership,” Lil Wayne tweeted last Thursday. “He listened to what we had to say today and assured he will and can get it done.” Trump retweeted the post from his personal account – and the internet went wild.
“Rappers are Republicans?!?!” tweeted conservative pundit JT Lewis. “That fave hip hop playlist getting shorter by the minute,” tweeted New Yorker writer Jelani Cobb.
Cobb pointed to an article he wrote in 2015, when Trump was still an unlikely fish in a big pond of Republican presidential candidates, titled, “Donald Trump Is a Rapper”.
“In all the ways that matter, save actual performing, Donald Trump is a not a politician – he’s a rapper,” Cobb wrote at the time. “If elected, he’s less likely to represent George W. Bush’s third term than Kanye West’s first one.”
Kanye West’s yo-yo relationship with Donald Trump
Cobb’s “fave hip hop playlist” tweet alluded to a string of rappers who have come out in support of Trump’s candidacy. Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson responded to Lil Wayne’s tweet with “Oh no – Wayne, I would never have took this pocture [sic].”
50 Cent recently faced his own backlash after he endorsed Trump on Instagram in reaction to Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s tax plan. Five days later, however, the Candy Shop rapper walked back his support after comedian Chelsea Handler (his ex-girlfriend) called him out on Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show.
“I never liked him,” 50 Cent tweeted in response to a clip of Handler’s criticism. Rapper and actor Ice Cube also distanced himself from Trump after advising the current administration on its “promise to Black America”, the so-called “Platinum Plan.”
In July, Ice Cube released his “Contract With Black America”, which advocated for proposals including police reform, the abolition of private prisons and the elimination of mandatory minimum sentences.
Earlier in October, Trump adviser Katrina Pierson thanked the rapper for his “willingness to step up and work with @realDonaldTrump Administration to help develop the #PlatinumPlan”. Her tweet sparked resistance over what seemed like Ice Cube’s support for Trump.
“In reality, the Platinum Plan is a two-page document that’s thinner on substance than a fifth-grader’s book report,” LA Times columnist Erika Smith wrote.
“And, despite what the Trump administration is claiming, it barely resembles Cube’s aspirational Contract With Black America, which includes demands such as abolishing private prisons and eliminating mandatory minimum sentences, or Joe Biden’s more exhaustive plan, which was introduced back in May.”
After interviews with notable black journalists Roland Martin and April Ryan, Ice Cube clarified his position, reiterating that he has never met Trump, nor has he endorsed him.
“Facts: I put out the CWBA [Contract With Black America],” the rapper-turned-actor tweeted. “Both parties contacted me. Dems said we’ll address the CWBA after the election. Trump campaign made some adjustments to their plan after talking to us about the CWBA.”
Rapper Lil Pump joined the fray on October 25, yelling on Instagram: “All I gotta say is: Trump 2020.” Lil Pump followed the Instagram Live endorsement with a photo of him meeting Trump, as well as a doctored image of “Lil Trump” featuring the president with dreadlocks and face piercings.
“In my short time as an adult, I’ve learned that what matters is what people believe to be true,” The Los Angeles Times’ Erin Logan wrote in an opinion piece.
Trump sprints across battlegrounds, seeks comeback two days before election
“And many people – including some Black men – believe Trump to be the epitome of the American dream, a dream they wish to attain.
“This falsehood was parroted into America’s consciousness thanks to Trump’s marketing – and rappers.”
In the pro-Biden camp, rapper Lil Jon condemned Trump’s candidacy in a harshly worded tweet last Thursday.
Lil Jon joins a long list of rap and hip-hop artists who have endorsed Biden, including Cardi B, Offset, Common, Bad Bunny and Snoop Dogg, who said he would vote this year for the first time “because I can’t stand to see [Trump] in office one more year”.
