Rappers Eminem and Kid Rock have taken opposing sides in the lead-up to the 2024 presidential election, setting the stage for a political showdown between the two Michigan-born stars.
Eminem—born Marshall Bruce Mathers III—appeared alongside former President Barack Obama at a rally in Michigan on Tuesday night to campaign for Vice President Kamala Harris. Meanwhile, Republican vice-presidential candidate JD Vance has revealed he’s invited longtime Trump supporter Kid Rock—born Robert James Ritchie—to join him on the campaign trail, also in Michigan.
With Michigan standing as one of the seven key battleground states in this closely contested election, the rally comes just two weeks before voters head to the polls. Harris and former President Donald Trump are neck and neck, making each campaign stop critical in the race for the White House.
Newsweek emailed a spokesperson for Eminem and Kid Rock for comment on Wednesday.
Trump is set to return to Michigan this weekend, with rallies scheduled for Friday and Saturday. It remains unconfirmed whether Kid Rock, an ardent Trump supporter, will attend.
Kid Rock performed at the Republican National Convention in July, where he made a few changes to his hit song “American Bad Ass” to tailor it to the upcoming election.
In place of the original lyrics, “Hey! Hey! Hey!” he had the audience yelling “Trump! Trump! Trump!” and he had named key battlegrounds for the upcoming presidential election, such as Pennsylvania and Arizona, instead of the locations named in the original version of the song.
“Ladies and gentlemen, get ready for the most patriotic, bada** on earth, President Donald J. Trump,” Kid Rock told the crowd before he left the stage and introduced Dana White.
In May, the right-wing musician described Trump as one of his “besties” in an interview with Rolling Stone.
During Tuesday’s rally in Michigan, Eminem delivered a brief but passionate speech, encouraging voters to head to the polls.
“I’m here tonight for a couple of important reasons. As most of you know, the city of Detroit and the whole state of Michigan mean a lot to me. And going into this election, the spotlight is on us more than ever, and I think it’s important to use your voice, so I’m encouraging everybody to get out and vote, please,” he said.
“I also think that people shouldn’t be afraid to express their opinions, and I don’t think anyone wants an America where people are worried about retribution, or what people will do if you make your opinion known.
“I think Vice President Harris supports a future for this country where these freedoms and many others will be protected and upheld. And here to tell you much more about that, President Barack Obama.”
Eminem is a long-time critic of Trump, and in October 2017, less than a year after the his inauguration, Eminem took aim at the then-president by delivering a blistering attack in the form of a freestyle rap called “The Storm” at the BET Hip Hop Awards.
During the four-and-a-half minute track, Eminem called Trump a “racist,” as he also criticized the Republican’s policies and campaign promises. To drive his feelings home, Eminem rapped, “We f****** hate Trump.”
In an undated clip, which previously went viral in August 2023, Eminem accused Trump of “brainwashing” his dedicated supporters “into thinking something great is going to happen. Nothing’s happening.”
He said: “Watching him play to his base that thinks that he cares about them—and it’s actually the people that he cares about the f****** least. If you’re talking about his core being, you know, a majority white middle class, what I don’t understand is how in the f*** do you feel like you relate to a billionaire who has never known struggle his entire f****** life?”
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