Rae Sremmurd’s Swae Lee caused quite the commotion over the weekend after tweeting about voting for presidential candidate Kamala Harris in November.
The diamond-selling recording artist posted a tweet on July 27 encouraging his followers to do their research before voting for Kamala Harris. “Do your research on [Harris’] whole camp,” he wrote on X. “I pay over millions in tax dollars every year. [Joe Biden] sent it to a whole ‘nother country! Those lil’ dollars that come off your checks, they gave it away! Think about that.”
Swae Lee followed the tweet with an explanation that suggests where tax dollars should be allocated. Moreover, he advised against voting for the black vice president.
He continued: “The money we sent away, every American citizen could’ve got a minimal $200,000. Think about that, but I guess we don’t need the money and y’all standing for Kamala. My Black people, she [doesn’t] do anything but sign off on things against y’all. Voting just because you think she’s Black is not going to end in your favor,”
Social media quickly responded to Swae Lee’s tweets with backlash. They correct Harris is indeed Black. Her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, emigrated from Chennai, India, while her father is from Jamaica.
“Don’t do that bs now that Swae Lee said don’t vote for Kamala. Keep the same energy with the other rappers in politics,” wrote a social media user.
Some also questioned whether the musician had previously been vocal about his political views. “The crazy part is they have the most non-influential rappers to be loud and wrong for a check,” one person claimed. “No one is getting their political opinions from Swae Lee. No one. Not even Swae Lee,” another added.
Harris announced her run for the U.S. presidency on July 21, following Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the race. She has since gained support from celebrities such as Beyonce, Cardi B, and Barack Obama.