Trump Courts Rappers as Surrogates for His Campaign to Win More Voters of Color

At Donald Trump's black voter outreach event at a Detroit church last weekend, the church's pastor and several prominent black Republicans joined the former president on stage. The same was true for another more improbable character: the rapper Casada Sorrell, better known as Sada Baby.

Most Republican voters may not know Sada Baby, but chances are their kids will. In 2020, he went viral with his single Whole Lotta Choppas, a pandemic mainstay on TikTok that was among the first viral recordings on the app.

Years later, he sat on stage inches from Trump and said, “He might be the first person to make me vote, fueled in part by the simple fact that Trump's team contacted him .

The fact that he reached out showed me a type of effort that another candidate had never shown, Sorrell said, noting that Trump could have gone after a bigger Detroit name like rapper Eminem (a notorious critic of him). I try to act like it doesn't mean much, but it does mean a lot.

And this is not a one-off gesture. As Trump works to court young voters of color, one strategy his campaign is adopting is turning rap stars into surrogates, going after not only nationally known names but also smaller, prominent artists in their local communities.

The campaign hopes this outreach will create a permission structure for undecided voters in communities with little history of support for Republicans to at least consider Trump's message. And Trump is embracing the rappers and they are embracing him, as polling data suggests this election may feature a generational divide among black voters, with younger members of the community showing much more openness to Trump.

Icewear Vezzo, another Detroit-based rapper who was at Trumps event in Michigan, encouraged his fans to consider Trump after receiving backlash for posing with him after the panel discussion.

Why can't we respectfully disagree anymore, Vezzo said in a message to his one million Instagram followers. Do you know what built great companies and great civilizations? They all went looking for a team of people who think differently than them.

At Trump's rally in the Bronx, New York, in the final days of his criminal trial on hush money charges, he brought Brooklyn rappers Sheff G and Sleepy Hallow, two stalwarts of the drill scene, to the stage and most influential in New York. The week before, they were both indicted in a 140-count indictment in Brooklyn, accusing a group of allegedly committing shootings, possessing guns and using stolen cars during shootouts, to eliminate rival gang members.

Former President Donald Trump with rappers Sheff G and Sleepy Hallow at a campaign rally in Crotona Park in the Bronx borough of New York on May 23. Brendan McDermid / Reuters

One thing I want to say is that they will always whisper your accomplishments and shout your failures. Trump will declare victory for all of us, said Sheff G, whose real name is Michael Williams.

Tegan Chambers (aka Sleepy Hallow) said just one sentence when asked to speak: Make America Great Again.

A Trump campaign spokesperson called Trump's engagement with the rap community completely organic, saying the message resonates with artists because they are unhappy with President Joe Biden's immigration and economic policies .

While Joe Biden gaslights Black voters with absurd ads, empty promises, and unrelated messages, President Trump shows up in these communities and listens to the leaders within them, including rappers, pastors, and business leaders , said Janiyah Thomas, the Black Trump campaigner. media director.

The Biden campaign suggested in a statement that Trump's embrace of rappers does little to counter what it has presented as a lack of respect for black communities every chance he gets.

That's why the first thing he did after taking over the RNC was to close its minority outreach centers, and that's why his campaign continues to organize their so-called outreach in white neighborhoods and in front of a white audience. Our campaign is on the ground, engaging with our communities on the issues that matter, as President Biden runs himself to win the support of Black Americans, said Biden-Harris campaign spokesperson Sarafina Chitika , in a press release.

The Biden campaign hasn't reached out to rappers to the same extent, instead prioritizing access to black media outlets like The Shade Room and doling out interviews to about two dozen black radio programs this election cycle.

Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday participated in a gun violence prevention event hosted by Atlanta-based rapper Quavo, following a White House meeting she had with him in September. Quavo has not yet officially endorsed the Biden-Harris campaign.

But even though it is not actively seeking support from rappers, the Biden campaign notes that it plays a role with voters through its presence at several events centered on black music and culture, including the J. Coles Dreamville Fest in North Carolina and the Ushers Lovers & Friends Fest in Las Vegas. Las Vegas.

The specifics that bring Trump and notable rappers together

The redemption of Trump's reputation among some rap artists has been fueled in part by the praise he has received for his handling of criminal justice cases.

Rappers Lil Wayne and Kodak Black became staunch Trump supporters after he included them both in his list of 143 pardons and commutations during the final hours of his 2021 term.

“I want to thank President Trump for recognizing that I have so much more to give to my family, my art and my community,” Lil Wayne said on what was then called Twitter, a day after the Biden's inauguration.

The First Step Act, the most significant federal criminal justice reform of this century, which Trump signed into law in 2018, was also praised for shortening prison sentences for some non-violent offenders and implementing criminal justice reforms. of sentencing. This is one of the reasons cited by rapper Sexyy Red for her support of Trump.

I love Trump, Sexyy Red said in an interview with comedian Theo Von. One time he started taking black people out of prison and giving them this free money. Oh baby, we love Trump. We need him back in power.

As Red alluded to, Trump was praised for the stimulus funds his administration provided to tens of millions of people during the Covid-19 pandemic through the Paycheck Protection Program, with his name printed on the front of paper checks sent across the country.

The black community wasn't f—— with Trump, but when this PPP and stuff came out, black people forgave him, West Coast rapper YG said, nearly eight years after posting a dissident piece protesting Trump's 2016 presidential candidacy.

Rapper 50 Cent, during a visit to Capitol Hill in which he met with Republicans including House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana and Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, told reporters that he saw black men identifying with Trump because they were accused of RICO. [too]. This belief has been perpetuated by Trump and shared by some of his black supporters as well.

Emmuel Brown, 77, a Detroit resident who attended Trump's recent event there, said many black men have had problems and therefore can identify with Trump.

But other voters are turned off by Trump's claim that blacks find him more favorable because of his criminal cases. A majority of participants in an NBC News focus group of undecided black voters in North Carolina called the assertion racist.

It's like an insult, said Kelli P., 38, a participant from Jacksonville, North Carolina. Are you serious? Is that what you think of us?

Can rappers get people to vote?

Some critics have downplayed Trump's embrace of rappers, noting that he bragged in 2020 about the support of historic artists like Kanye West and younger artists like the then-viral Lil Pump, but n 'didn't get a substantial increase in support from black voters compared. to 2016.

For some voters in battleground states, however, the rappers' support is a reminder of the prominence Trump once held in hip-hop, when he was highly regarded as an aspirational figure regularly cited in records.

Growing up, I listened to 50 Cent. I used to hear Donald Trump on the mix tapes, said Emani L., 32, a Georgia resident who declined to give his last name. Having a president who was in the neighborhood and who hung out with people who come from where I come from? Come on, man. Let's go.

Mansa King, a sociologist who studies racial inequality, said using rappers as surrogates could attract the attention of a diverse coalition of young voters, noting that rappers appeal beyond the black population.

But King also highlighted a challenge the Trump campaign may face in using culturally relevant artists to galvanize young voters.

Young people can be very excited about someone but not translate that into what is needed to actually influence voting behavior at the most important levels, King said. Getting people to translate their enthusiasm or support for a candidate into registering and going to the polls on Election Day is another matter entirely.

But if Trump's appeal to artists increases his support among voters of color by even a few percentage points, it could have a big effect in a close election.

I can't just ignore it, King said. I don't think he needs to get a majority of votes. I think he just needs to eliminate a sufficiently large minority of the votes. And I could see that it could happen with this kind of simplistic strategy.

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