Eminem is putting his fanbase on the line to slam Donald Trump once again. And this time, the stakes couldn’t be any higher.
The rapper will introduce Barack Obama and share remarks at a Kamala Harris rally in Detroit Tuesday night, following years of going after both Trump and his supporters in lyrics—despite many of his own fans being Trump supporters themselves.
Eminem previously told those fans “f--- you” back in 2017, in a fiery freestyle called “The Storm” that aired during the BET Awards.
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“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,” he rapped then.
He repeated that sentiment a few months later when told Billboard, “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.”
Eminem later expressed some regrets about the way he worded his Trump takedown when he rapped, “That line in the sand, was it even worth it? / ‘Cause the way I see people turning is making it seem worthless / It’s starting to defeat the purpose” and then, “But if I could go back, I’d at least reword it / And say I empathize with the people this evil serpent / Sold the dream to that he’s deserted,” in his song “The Ringer.”
But has still made it clear he’s no fan of “Agent Orange,” as he called Trump on that track.
As Eminem goes through his own evolution on Trump, the former president has remained mum, despite the fact he regularly spars with his celebrity critics on social media and seems to take great pleasure in doing so.
Onlookers have speculated that Trump never hit back at Eminem—despite his repeated slamming of him as a “racist” who would cause a “nuclear holocaust”— because of the significant overlap between their fan bases, which Eminem himself described as “majority white middle class” people. In other words, calling more attention to Eminem’s beef could alienate some of Trump’s own supporters.
That alienation works both ways though, as Eminem himself admitted he was “watching my fan base shrink to thirds,” following his tirades against Trump.
And yet, those commercial fears have not stopped the rapper from trying to keep Trump out of office by endorsing Harris for president, as he prepares to make a rare appearance to support her campaign. It also comes after former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy tried to use Eminem’s song “Lose Yourself” on the campaign trail with cringe results and was served a cease and desist by the rapper.
For Trump‘s part, though he’s never before responded to Eminem’s insults and critiques, he’s historically been a fan of the rapper prior to his jump into politics. In 2004, Trump was a featured speaker at the MTV‘s The Shady National Convention, where he was introduced as “the man most likely to post Eminem’s bail“ and declared, ”Slim Shady is a winner."
Eminem confirmed that Trump is aware of his beef with him through lyrics on “The Ringer,” rapping, “I know at least he’s heard it / ‘Cause Agent Orange just sent the Secret Service / To meet in person to see if I really think of hurtin’ him / Or ask if I’m linked to terrorists.”
