Failure to tow the party line sparked conflict on “The View” as their Grammy-winning guest pushed back: “…don’t lie on me.”
(Video: ABC)
Michael Render, the rapper known as Killer Mike, has benefited from some major media coverage after earning three Grammys at the recent award show for Best Rap Song, Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Album. In the wake of an appearance on HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher” where he refused to endorse President Joe Biden’s re-election, he joined the ladies of ABC’s daytime talk show where he held his ground.
“We get caught up in the soap opera of federal elections and that’s fine,” he began to co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin after she brought up the president. “But if you are concerned with federal elections and you don’t know who your city council or your wardsman, you don’t know who your mayor is, and you don’t have a good list of state representatives or governor, then you’re just a part of whoever wins the Super Bowl, the fanfare.”
To that point, the Atlanta native pushed his support for Mayor Andre Dickens (D) and even spoke well of Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp’s (R) work on businesses and scholarships for low-income students.
Co-host Sunny Hostin bristled at the positive review of the Republican executive and lamented, “You lost me a little bit with your support for Kemp, but let me tell you this-”
“Not support of Kemp,” interjected Render, “that’s misinformation. You can not like me, but don’t lie on me.”
“He’s the governor of my state, I have to be involved with him because I can’t divorce myself. But let me say this, if you criticize someone, don’t lie,” he reiterated. “Don’t say I didn’t support [Stacey] Abrams, because I did. Don’t say that I don’t support Democrats because I’ve helped get three Democratic mayors elected, I’ve helped get two state representatives get elected.”
The rapper, who had backed Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders for president and was behind Georgia Democratic Sens. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, went on, “But if someone is in the king’s seat, I’m not going to not have dinner with the king on the behalf of my people. I have to do that.”
Leading up to the exchange, Render had remarked, “In terms of nationally, I’m just kind of doing what my grandfather said. Staying out of white folks’ business and watching what happens. I’m going to see what happens. If there’s a candidate that pops up around September, October, that needs a push that’s really, policy-wise is good for us going to jump up. But right now, I don’t want to be involved in the soap opera because I’m much more concerned about what’s going on in Atlanta on the hyper-local level.”
While the rapper applauded as Hostin launched into a pitch for “Biden’s achievements for the black community,” he had spoken directly to what the president hadn’t addressed when Maher had asked him previously, “You can’t get yourself to say ‘Vote for Biden over Trump’?”
“Can he get himself to apologize for the crime bill? Can he get himself to get his head out of his a** to say black people, you are black regardless, I need you to tell me what I need to do? Can he pick a coalition of former people who were affected by drug laws, street gangs, and recidivism in crime and say I need you as a board to advise me how to fix federal prisons? If he can do that, absolutely I can. So my challenge is out there.”
That take had preceded Render’s arrest after his wins at the Grammy Awards when he was led away in handcuffs and booked for Misdemeanor Battery.
Triple Grammy Award-winner dragged out of ceremony in handcuffs!
After sweeping his categories, a triple Grammy Award-winner was swept away from the ceremony in handcuffs Sunday: “Yeah, I’m serious.”
Artists and hangers-on gathered at Crypto dot com Arena in Los Angeles,… pic.twitter.com/EzcpqpPotr
— American Wire News (@americanwire_) February 5, 2024
When asked to comment he laughed as he reminded her he couldn’t talk about it before adding, “I think the backstage was overcrowded, I think the winners were exuberant and I think security got a little overzealous, and it’s water under the bridge for me.”
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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