How Republicans are using prominent hip-hop figures to push MAGA messaging: analysis

Former President Donald Trump has his share of scathing critics in the hip-hop community, including Ice-T, Jay-Z and Cardi B. When the FBI searched Mar-a-Lago in August 2022 to look for classified White House documents, Ice-T taunted Trump on X, formerly Twitter, by posting, "'6 n the Morning Feds at your door" — a reference to the rapper/actor's 1986 gangsta rap classic "6 'N tha Mornin'."

But rapper Ye, formerly Kanye West, has been an enthusiastic Trump supporter and proudly worn a red MAGA hat.

In a ReidOut pinion column published on January 22, MSNBC's Ja'han Jones laments that MAGA Republicans have been using prominent hip-hop figures — including radio host Charlamagne tha God and Philadelphia rapper Meek Mill — to push MAGA messages.

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"On the heels of Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz's ill-conceived suggestion that Republicans are fine sacrificing white women voters for 'Julios and Jamals' — presumably meaning Latino and Black men — I think now is a good time to revisit a beat I've been on for the last several years: covering the GOP's hapless attempt to sway Black voters," Jones writes. "Last week, failed presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy appeared to get a co-sign from rapper Meek Mill when the artist reposted a right-wing conspiracy theorist's clip of Ramaswamy's gushing endorsement of Trump in Iowa last week."

Jones adds, "Meek Mill later posted that people shouldn't listen to him because he doesn't know anything about politics, as if we needed that tip — but not before Republicans, including Ramaswamy, gleefully reshared the rapper's post…. And then there's the raft of right-wing media who've been touting hip-hop radio host Charlamagne tha God's seemingly endless public attacks on President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party."

"Right-wingers," Jones notes, "have seemed almost giddy to present" Charlamagne's "critique of the Biden Admin as one that's shared by Black voters."

"There is a troubling trend of conservatives leaning on Black media figures and media outlets that target Black audiences, particularly tabloids and rappers, to spread their viewpoint," Jones argues. "Successive elections have shown conservatives to be out of touch with most Black voters. Pew Research projects that this November, there will be more than 34 million eligible Black voters, and a whopping 92 percent of Black voters favored Biden in 2020. "

READ MORE: Watch: Charlamagne tha God tells Chris Wallace why Trump appears to be 'picking up Black support'

Jones continues, "Yet the GOP is trying to make inroads by leaning on some of the Black community's least trustworthy voices when it comes to politics. Republicans evidently believe rappers, YouTubers and raunchy radio hosts are the best tools to chip away at that advantage — all while the party engages in overtly anti-Black acts such as suppressing Black votes and restricting access to books about Black history."

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Read Ja'han Jones' full MSNBC column at this link.