Eminem to throw support behind Kamala Harris with appearance at Detroit rally
Eminem performs before the WBA junior middleweight title bout between Terence Crawford and Israel Madrimov at BMO Stadium on August 3, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
On Tuesday night, Eminem is expected to join Barack Obama to campaign for presidential candidate Kamala Harris in his hometown.
Eminem isn’t afraid to risk alienating fans if it means denouncing Donald Trump. The rapper is expected to formally throw his support behind Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday night, as he will reportedly appear at a rally for the presidential candidate in his hometown of Detroit.
The appearance likely won’t come as a surprise to longtime Eminem fans. As noted by the Daily Beast, the “8 Mile” rapper, born Marshall Mathers III, has been public about his disdain for the former Republican president for years; most notably during a freestyle titled “The Storm” at the 2017 BET Awards, in which he disavowed their shared fans.
“And any fan of mine who’s a supporter of his / I’m drawing in the sand a line / you’re either for or against / and if you can’t decide who you like more and you’re split on who you should stand beside, I’ll do it for you with this. F— you,” rapped the musician, ending his screed with the rallying cry: “The rest of America stand up / We love our military, and we love our country / But we f—king hate Trump.”
As he subsequently told Billboard magazine, airing the controversial take was well worth speaking his personal truth about the 45th president of the United States.
“At the end of the day, if I did lose half my fan base, then so be it because I feel like I stood up for what was right, and I’m on the right side of this,” he said.
On Tuesday night, Eminem will have another chance to express his views. According to multiple sources, the homegrown rapper is expected to make a few remarks of his own before introducing former President Barack Obama, who is headlining the event. While Eminem’s speech will undoubtedly be less profanity-laden than his 2017 freestyle, he is expected to “offer his thoughts on the presidential race,” reports CNN (per the Detroit Free Press).
As noted by Forbes, Eminem’s appearance could prove effective for the campaign in its final weeks. While he has largely stayed out of the political fray, in 2020, he gave the Biden campaign permission to use his hit single “Lose Yourself” in an ad just prior to the election, personally imploring his online followers that they had “One opportunity… #Vote.” His appearance also comes just weeks after Trump insulted the city of Detroit during a campaign stop in the city, prompting ire within the battleground state.
Music legend Bruce Springsteen is also scheduled to appear at the Michigan rally on Tuesday night. Springsteen recently made headlines with a pointed television ad endorsing the Harris-Walz ticket in which he notably called Trump “the most dangerous candidate for president in my lifetime.”