Several Black male celebrities have announced their support for the Republican presidential nominee, former President Trump.
With only a few weeks until election day, the Harris campaign sees itself struggling with Black men as Trump is making gains with the group who are traditionally some of the Democratic Party’s most reliable supporters.
According to a New York Times/Siena College poll released last week, Harris currently holds 78% of the Black vote, which is down from 2020, when President Biden won approximately 90% of that voting bloc. It’s also down from 2016, when Hillary Clinton won approximately 92% of the Black vote. Harris’ support among Black men has dropped even more significantly, according to the report: 70% said they would vote for Harris in November, down from Biden’s 85% in 2020.
Per an NCAAP survey, one in four Black men under 50 said they would support Trump in 2024.
While Harris has made numerous attempts to gain support from men and Black America, male commentators from radio host Charlamagne Tha God to comedic actor Eddie Griffin have warned that it may not work and that Trump himself has a unique appeal to Black men.
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During this campaign, Trump has garnered the support of several notable Black male entertainers and athletes.
Lord Jamar
One of the members of the hip-hop group Brand Nubian, Lord Jamar, recently came out supporting Trump in an interview.
Jamar, a rapper, producer, and actor from shows like “The Sopranos,” slammed Harris and her supporters and applauded Trump’s leadership.
“This woman, to me, is not qualified to run, you know, a Dunkin’ Donuts or a 7-Eleven, let alone the corporation that we call the United States of America,” Jamar, a founding member of Brand Nubian, said in an interview with “The Art of Dialogue” last week.
“Let’s keep it real a n—- like Trump. First of all, there was no wars when Trump was in – was the president, how about that? There was no wars going on while Trump was president. This mother—— was doing gangster s— to n—– like in the Taliban showing them pictures of their house from a satellite,” he said.
Jamar added that he is among many Black Americans “in the real world” that do not support Harris.
“Trust me the sentiment on the street in the real world is a lot of people are not f—— with this woman. They see right through her, and they’re trying to blame it on Black men, but no, I see a lot of Black women that are not f—— with her neither.”
Kodak Black
Bill K. Kapri, also known as Kodak Black, has been an ardent Trump supporter since the former president pardoned him in 2021. The 27-year-old rapper also made appearances at Trump’s campaign rallies as he bids for reelection in 2024.
Florida native Kodak also dropped a supportive song called Fivio Foreign that featured portions of Trump’s past speeches.
The self-identified Haitian rapper seemed to be upset at Trump after the GOP presidential nominee echoed viral claims that migrants had been seen eating pets and animals at the last presidential debate.
“In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs, the people that came in, they’re eating the cats,” Trump said during the second presidential debate in September. “They’re eating the pets of the people that live there.”
The remarks came after the influx of Haitian migrants into the small town of Springfield, Ohio, was brought into the spotlight.
“We ain’t voting for nothing,” Kodak said. “I ain’t gonna lie, Haitians, we came too far, bro. We came too f–king far, homie… We ain’t taking no Haitian slander.”
However, just days after Kodak’s remarks, the rapper attended a Trump rally in Uniondale, New York in September, taking photos with Trump supporters.
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Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell
Former Pittsburgh Steelers Pro Bowlers Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell joined Trump onstage at a rally in Latrobe, Pennsylvania on Saturday.
Brown, wearing.a red MAGA hat, shouted “Let’s vote for Trump! Let’s make some noise for the president!”
“Let’s go Trump, you already know, vote Trump, let’s go,” Bell said
Brown proceeded to lead the crowd in a “Here we go Steelers” chant.
The ex-NFL player has been vocal about his support of Trump, frequently commenting about the GOP presidential nominee on X.
Brown, who left the Steelers in 2018 when he was traded to the Raiders, also frequently criticizes Harris.
Brown on Thursday posted on X about his appearance at the rally saying, “Time to help make real change.”
Lawrence Taylor
New York Giants legend Lawrence Taylor spoke at a Trump campaign rally in Wildwood, N.J., on May 11.
Taylor, speaking in front of 40,000 people on the Jersey shore, talked about how he left the Democratic Party.
“I grew up a Democrat, and I’ve always been a Democrat, until I met this man right here,” Taylor said to cheers. “Nobody in my family ever will vote for a Democrat again.”
L.T. is widely regarded as the best linebacker to ever play in the NFL.
Herschel Walker
Former NFL running back Herschell Walker is another well-known backer of Trump.
Walker is a former all-American football running back who played in the NFL for 12 seasons. Prior to that, he played for the upstart USFL league that intended to compete with the NFL. Trump was an investor in the league and the owner of the league’s New Jersey Generals franchise that Walker played for.
In 2022, Walker won the Republican Senate nomination in Georgia by an overwhelming majority of the vote after receiving the endorsement of Trump, but went on to lose the general election to Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock.
Walker recently spoke out against former President Obama for his recent criticisms towards Black men not supporting Kamala Harris.
Don King
Trump’s campaign team posted a video on Instagram of famous and legendary boxing promoter Don King endorsing Trump.
“Get re-elected,” Cleveland native King said. “And we must re-elect him to save ourselves. You know, a vote for Trump is a vote for yourself.”
King went on to say, “Because we have to fight the system of lies and the creation of wrong being right and right being wrong … that’s got to be eliminated. And the only one who has the intestinal fortitude to be able to stand up and fight the system like it should be fought.”
Now a South Florida resident, King, 93, promoted two of Muhammad Ali’s greatest boxing fights, the “Rumble in the Jungle” and the “Thrilla in Manila,” throughout his illustrious career.
He joined Trump on the campaign trail in 2016.
Mike Tyson
Prolific boxer Mike Tyson’s support of Trump dates back to his first 2016 campaign that led to his presidency.
His most recent comments on the election regarding Trump were favorable to the GOP presidential nominee.
“Trump is going to win,” Tyson said September 20 on the “It Is What It Is” podcast starring former rappers Mase and Cam’ron.
“Is that who you want to win?” podcast co-host Cam’ron asked.
“Yeah, it’d be nice if he wins, yeah,” Tyson replied. He continued, “I have my reasons [for wanting him to win]… He is just a good man. Listen, I don’t agree with all his s–t. Nobody agrees with all my s–t, but you know, they [are] good people. No one is perfect in this world. Everybody got their s–t, you know.”
Mase, a rapper turned preacher, said that he is “conservative” and “probably on the side of Trump.”
During the early days of Tyson’s boxing career, he used to box at billionaire Trump’s hotels.
50 Cent
Curtis James Jackson III, also known as 50 Cent, although he had not endorsed Trump, explained why people like him are gravitating toward the GOP candidate after his reaction to the first assassination attempt.
When Jackson was asked what his stance was on the 2024 election in an interview to discuss his new book “The Accomplice,” Jackson replied “I’d like to stay out of it.”
Jackson added that he related to Trump when the former president raised his fist after getting shot in the now iconic image.
“He says fight. All right. And that’s exactly what I did after I got shot. I just went into fight mode,” he said. “People identify with it that way.”
50 Cent had previously entertained the idea of supporting Trump in the past. Jackson in June told CBS News congressional correspondent Nikole Killion that he believed Black men were “identifying with Trump” because “they’ve got RICO charges [too].”
Earlier this year, he added, “I think Trump’s gonna be president again, but I’m not gonna say that.”
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