Eminem's views on Donald Trump have become a talking point in the lead-up to November's election after video footage resurfaced of the rapper criticizing the former president.
In the undated clip, which previously went viral in August 2023, Eminem accused Trump of "brainwashing" his dedicated supporters "into thinking something great is going to happen. Nothing's happening."
The video resurfaced this week on X, formerly Twitter, where as of press time it had garnered more than 1 million views and sparked a spirited exchange of opinions between Trump's supporters and detractors.
As the Republican nominee, Trump is vying for a second term in the White House, after his first tenure concluded with a 2020 election defeat to President Joe Biden. Trump is expected to face Vice President Kamala Harris following Biden's announcement in July that he will not be seeking reelection.
With the presidential race heating up, countless celebrities and public figures' thoughts on the candidates have become talking points in recent months.
Eminem, whose given name is Marshall Bruce Mathers III, hasn't been shy in sharing his opinion of Trump over the years.
Newsweek has put together a list of statements the "Lose Yourself" rapper has made about the onetime real estate mogul. Newsweek has contacted representatives of Trump and Eminem via email for comment.
'Brainwashing' Accusations
In the clip that recently resurfaced on social media, Eminem expressed frustration regarding Trump as he questioned the former president's unwavering supporters.
"When I start talking about Trump, I get too flustered in my head," the star said. "And the s*** that I want to say—there's too many things I want to say at once. So sometimes I start talking and I don't... I'm not able to convey the message the right way because I just get flustered and frustrated."
"Watching him play to his base that thinks that he cares about them—and it's actually the people that he cares about the f****** least," he continued. "If you're talking about his core being, you know, a majority white middle class, what I don't understand is how in the f*** do you feel like you relate to a billionaire who has never known struggle his entire f****** life?"
"I will say this, he talks a good one," he added of Trump. "And if you're in his base... let's say you're going to the rallies or whatever, you watch him on TV, you hear him talking this s***, there's part of me that understands, like, alright, he's somehow still got them because he's brainwashing them into thinking that something great is going to happen. Nothing's happening. Nothing is happening. I don't know, man. I get really flustered when I talk about it."
Fiery Freestyle
In October 2017, less than a year after Trump's inauguration, Eminem took aim at the then-president by delivering a blistering attack in the form of a freestyle rap called "The Storm" at the BET Hip Hop Awards.
During the four-and-a-half minute track, Eminem called Trump a "racist," as he also criticized the Republican's policies and campaign promises. To drive his feelings home, Eminem rapped that "we f****** hate Trump." The full lyrics are below.
"It's the calm before the storm right here / Wait, how was I gonna start this off? / I forgot... oh, yeah / That's an awfully hot coffee pot / Should I drop it on Donald Trump? Probably not / But that's all I got 'til I come up with a solid plot / Got a plan and now I gotta hatch it / Like a damn Apache with a tomahawk.
"Imma walk inside a mosque on Ramadan / And say a prayer that every time Melania talks / She gets a mou... Ahh, Imma stop / But we better give Obama props / 'Cause what we got in office now's a kamikaze that'll probably cause a nuclear holocaust.
"And while the drama pops / And he waits for s*** to quiet down, he'll just gas his plane up and fly around 'til the bombing stops / Intensities heightened, tensions are rising / Trump, when it comes to giving a s***, you're stingy as I am / Except when it comes to having the b***s to go against me, you hide 'em / 'Cause you don't got the f****** n**s like an empty asylum.
"Racism's the only thing he's fantastic for / 'Cause that's how he gets his f****** rocks off and he's orange / Yeah, sick tan / That's why he wants us to disband 'cause he cannot withstand the fact we're not afraid of Trump.
"F*** walking on eggshells, I came to stomp / That's why he keeps screaming 'Drain the swamp' / 'Cause he's in quicksand / It's like we take a step forwards, then backwards / But this is his form of distraction / Plus, he gets an enormous reaction / When he attacks the NFL so we focus on that instead of talking Puerto Rico or gun reform for Nevada.
"All these horrible tragedies and he's bored and would rather cause a Twitter storm with the Packers / Then says he wants to lower our taxes / Then who's gonna pay for his extravagant trips back and forth with his fam to his golf resorts and his mansions?
"Same s*** that he tormented Hillary for and he slandered then does it more / From his endorsement of Bannon / Support for the Klansmen / Tiki torches in hand for the soldier that's Black and comes home from Iraq and is still told to go back to Africa / Fork and a dagger in this racist 94-year-old grandpa who keeps ignoring our past historical, deplorable factors.
"Now if you're a Black athlete, you're a spoiled little brat for / Trying to use your platform or your stature / To try to give those a voice who don't have one / He says, 'You're spitting in the face of vets who fought for us, you bastards!' / Unless you're a POW who's tortured and battered 'cause to him you're zeros / 'Cause he don't like his war heroes captured / That's not disrespecting the military.
"F*** that! This is for Colin, ball up a fist! And keep that s*** balled like Donald the b**** / 'He's gonna get rid of all immigrants!' / 'He's gonna build that thang up taller than this' / Well, if he does build it, I hope it's rock solid with bricks / 'Cause like him in politics, I'm using all of his tricks / 'Cause I'm throwing that piece of s*** against the wall 'til it sticks.
"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 / The rest of America stand up / We love our military, and we love our country / But we f****** hate Trump."
Waiting for a Response
Weeks after his freestyle had garnered international headlines, Eminem expressed shock at the fact that he didn't get a public response from Trump, who at that time had become known for lashing out at his detractors.
Making an appearance on his Shade 45 SiriusXM channel, Eminem said of Trump's silence: "I feel like he's not paying attention to me. I was kinda waiting for him to say something, and for some reason, he didn't say anything."
Erasing any questions over whether his feelings on Trump had changed, the hip-hop star quipped: "I can't stand that mother******."
Perhaps as a prod, Eminem would go on to take aim at Trump on the track "Like Home," which was released in December 2017.
"The swastika with your name carved in it / Should be your trademark, 'cause it's all you played off / And you just took the plate off," Eminem rapped. "So I guess it pays to feed off of chaos / So basically, you Adolf Hitler.
"But you ain't ruining our country, punk / You won't take our pride from us, you won't define us / 'Cause like a dictionary, things are looking up / So much, got a sprained neck, know we would rise up / Against this train wreck and take a stand
Even if it mean sitting when they raise the flag.
"This ain't the Star Spangled Banner / This man just praised a statue of General Lee / 'Cause he generally hates the Black people, degrades Hispanics."
Expressing Regret
Almost one year later, in August 2018, Eminem expressed regret over the freestyle, as he addressed the aftermath on his track "The Ringer."
"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," he rapped, before stating that he saw his fanbase shrink following the freestyle.
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
I'm watching my fanbase shrink to thirds / And I was just trying to do the right thing, but word."
Eminem further stated that at the request of "Agent Orange," Secret Service agents interviewed him, rapping: "Agent Orange just sent the Secret Service to meet in person to see if I really think of hurting him / Or ask if I'm linked to terrorists / I said, 'Only when it comes to ink and lyricists.'"
Bad Blood
In a December 2017 interview with New York Magazine's Vulture, Eminem lashed out at Trump once again, saying: "He makes my blood boil. I can't even watch the news anymore because it makes me too stressed out.
"All jokes aside, all punch lines aside, I'm trying to get a message out there about him. I want our country to be great too, I want it to be the best it can be, but it's not going to be that with him in charge.
"I remember when he was first sniffing around politics, I thought, We've tried everything else, why not him? Then—and I was watching it live—he had that speech where he said Mexico is sending us rapists and criminals. I got this feeling of what the f***? From that point on, I knew it was going to be bad with him. What he's doing putting people against each other is scary f****** s***. His election was such a disappointment to me about the state of the country."
Elsewhere in the interview, Eminem explained that he was eager for Trump to respond to his public criticisms "because I got ideas for all kinds of s*** to say back to him if he does."
"I'm not going to give any away now, but I've got lines ready if he says something about me," he continued. "I get almost flustered thinking about him—that's how angry he makes me. The people that support him are the people he cares about the least and they don't even realize it.
"At what point do you—a working-class citizen, someone who's trying to make s*** better for you and your family—think this guy who's never known struggle his entire f****** life, who avoided the military because of bone spurs, who says he's a billionaire, is really looking out for you? He's got people brainwashed."
Eminem went on to express a wish that Trump would be impeached in 2018 (it subsequently happened twice, in 2019 and 2021), before continuing his attack on the then-president, who he described as "very good at smoke screens."
"Trump had me so mad with all his bulls*** that I was thinking, I hope everybody who voted for him gets f***** and learns a lesson. But that was wrong. I don't want any voters to get f*****; everyone's trying to improve their lives.
"I just feel mad that Trump's sold people a dream that's never coming true. I want the division in this country to stop. And like I said, I most want people to take a second and think about what I'm saying."
'Duped Everybody'
In an interview with Billboard, which was published in January 2018, Eminem said that he could see Trump winning the 2016 election long before he finally defeated former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
"I called it just from the rallies he was having when he first started running," the rapper said. "Because just watching the impact he has, they were fanatics. There is something to be said about the person who really felt like he might do something for them—and he just f****** duped everybody.
"I know that Hillary had her flaws, but you know what? Anything would have been better [than Trump]. A f****** turd would have been better as a president.
"When I [put out 'The Storm'], I felt that everybody who was with him at that point doesn't like my music anyway. I get the comparison with the non-political-correctness, but other than that, we're polar opposites. He made these people feel like he was really going to do something for them.
"It's just so f****** disgusting how divisive his language is, the rhetoric, the Charlottesville s***, just watching it going, 'I can't believe he's saying this.' When he was talking about John McCain, I thought he was done. You're f****** with military veterans, you're talking about a military war hero who was captured and tortured. It just didn't matter. It doesn't matter. And that's some scary s*** to me."
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