Updated October 23.
Eminem, who’s been vocally anti-Trump since addressing his Trump supporter fans in a 2017 BET Hip Hop Awards cypher, introduced Barack Obama at a campaign rally for Kamala Harris in Em’s hometown of Detroit Tuesday night (10/22). Watch his speech, and also watch Obama rap “Lose Yourself” at the rally:
Rapper Eminem introduces former President Barack Obama at a Detroit rally for Vice President Kamala Harris. pic.twitter.com/SGURWEGAMw
— MS NOW (@MSNOWNews) October 23, 2024
Obama raps Eminem's "Lose Yourself," after being introduced by the rapper at a rally for Harris in Detroit, MI. pic.twitter.com/MqXJzplZPY
— MS NOW (@MSNOWNews) October 23, 2024
Recapping Em’s history as a vocal critic of Donald Trump, Xavier Martinez for The Wall Street Journal writes:
Democratic rallygoers will get a glimpse of the real Slim Shady Tuesday night. Eminem, the 52-year-old rapper who grew up in Detroit and still lives in Michigan, will introduce former President Barack Obama tonight at an event in the Motor City. Eminem isn’t known for his public appearances, but he has been a vocal critic of former President Donald Trump.
In 2017, the rapper spoke out against the then-president. “I get almost flustered thinking about him–that’s how angry he makes me,” he said in an interview with Vulture, a media outlet that covers entertainment. During the 2017 BET Hip Hop awards, he performed a freestyle diss track against Trump.
A 2020 campaign ad in support of President Biden used Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” as background music. Obama has said that the 2003 hit single was one of his go-to hype songs when he was campaigning in 2008.
Michigan is a battleground state, and the state’s polls are currently neck and neck between Harris and Trump.