Donald Trump isn’t the only candidate courting the support of rappers ahead of the 2024 presidential election. Fat Joe and E-40 will appear at President Joe Biden’s rally in North Carolina on Friday (June 28).
The Hip-Hop artists will join Biden less than 24 hours after he faces off against Trump in the first presidential debate of the 2024 election cycle. Biden’s campaign called Fat Joe and E-40 “legends of the music industry who understand the importance of utilizing their platforms to ensure their fan base understands the stakes of this election.”
Biden’s campaign enlisted Fat Joe and E-40’s help after Trump curried favor with several rappers over the past two months. Drill rappers Sheff G and Sleepy Hallow endorsed Trump at a rally in May. Earlier this month, Trump met with Detroit’s Sada Baby, Icewear Vezzo and Peezy. Sada Baby admitted Trump “might be the first person to make [the rapper] vote.
“Him reaching out showed me like some type of effort that another candidate hadn’t shown ever,” Sada Baby said, per NBC News. “I’m trying to act like it doesn’t mean too much, but it means a lot.”
Rappers faced backlash for supporting Trump. Icewear Vezzo defended his meeting with Trump and suggested it wasn’t an endorsement.
“We don’t all have to agree on everything,” Icewear Vezzo wrote. “I just know not many of us will ever have the chance to really speak up for us and address how we may really feel so I stepped out on faith I didn’t meet him as a rapper I met him as a man and a father who understands the only way to attempt change things is to address things.”
Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in May. He awaits sentencing. The Republican candidate faces three more criminal cases, but the trials aren’t expected to start before this year’s election.