M.I.A. backs Donald Trump and RFK Jr in the 2024 US election
After a period of flirting with right-wing politics, M.I.A. has now thrown her support behind Donald Trump’s 2024 US election campaign and the shock decision by RFK Jr. to support him.
Last week, the independent candidate Robert Francis Kennedy Jr – the son of the assassinated Robert F. Kennedy, and nephew of President John F. Kennedy – revealed that he had dropped out of the race, as he joined Trump at a rally in Arizona, endorsing his campaign.
This was a shock announcement, as Kennedy is part of the famous Democratic dynasty. However, he maintained that principles had led him to leave the party and “throw my support to President Trump”. He also announced in a press conference in Phoenix, Arizona, on August 23rd that he is seeking to remove his name from the ballot in ten of the battleground states.
Trump promised before RFK Jr joined him on stage that if he gets elected, he will release all remaining documents concerning the 1963 assassination of JFK, one of the darkest and most perplexing moments in American history.
RFK Jr’s sister, Kerry Kennedy, decried his support of Trump. She said his decision is a “betrayal of the values that our father and our family hold most dear. It is a sad ending to a sad story.”
While many have lambasted RFK Jr for the decision, English rapper and musician M.I.A. has endorsed both him and Trump in the 2024 election. On August 23rd, the ‘Paper Planes’ artist shared a live-streamed video of RFK Jr on X, delivering a speech supporting Trump.
She captioned the post: “Trump is going to ride America through the most challenging 4 years coming pulling out weed, and RFK will inherit America when God is ready to replant and rebuild it righteously.”
M.I.A. has long been an activist for political causes, speaking out on everything from the 2011 London riots to supporting WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange. Despite previously committing her support to left-wing politics, which saw her endorse former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn in the 2017 and 2019 UK general elections, it seems that recently her anti-establishment outlook has shifted towards the right.
Not only has she now backed Trump’s campaign and a future one from RFK Jr, but in June, the rapper launched her clothing brand, Ohmni. Her range of garments includes a tin foil hat, which people can buy to supposedly block out 5G waves from entering the body.
Significantly, M.I.A. unveiled the line during an appearance on Alex Jones’ conspiracy-based, right-wing show, Infowars. In October 2022, she was dropped from the GQ Awards after Tweeting in support of the presenter after he was ordered to pay nearly $1 billion in damages to the victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting after he was found guilty of spreading falsehoods about the crime.
Distilling a divided America, the US election has also polarised the rap community. Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, another prominent name who has veered to the right, recently appeared at a Trump rally, who he has long supported.
Elsewhere, Joe Budden hit out at Lil Pump for supporting Trump after he posted on X that he would be releasing a track supporting the former President.
The United States 2024 elections are scheduled to be held on Tuesday, November 5th.