So what do John Wilkes Booth, Charles J. Guiteau, Leon Czolgosz, Lee Harvey Oswald, and now Marshall Mathers aka Eminem (aka Slim Shady) all have in common?

They’ve each assassinated a U.S. President. 🙂

Ouch, that was fucking brutal.

For the record, as a former wannabe rapper myself let me say that, strictly lyrically speaking, this was not one of Eminem’s best. First there’s the fact that it was not a straight verse, nor was it set to a beat, like his previous BET freestyles, but rather a collection of lines spoken one after another. It felt more like a spoken word performance than rap.

There’s also the fact that there is a trick rappers use, which is when they mispronounce a word in order to make it sound like it rhymes with another particular word. Eminem does that a LOT in this particular performance. I’ve always thought that’s a bit lazy.

But it was about what he was saying, not how he said it. He went through it all, from Trumps “twitter distractions”, attacking Black athletes, to his golf tips, his alliances with Steve Bannon and White Supremacists, his mockery of John McCain’s stint as a POW, and his stirring up of anti-immigrant sentiments among rural White Americans.

But in my opinion. The best part of all, the thing that makes the entire performance worth it, and gains Eminem my respect, are the lines at then end:

“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 it for you with this. FUCK YOU!”

He put his career where his mouth is, calling out his own fans, and saying if any of you support Trump, then I don’t want your support anymore. That’s awesome. I mean, let’s face it, Eminem likely has far more White fans than any other rapper, and therefor he’s the rapper likely to have the most fans who happen to be Trump voters. And Eminem didn’t hesitate to call them out.

Admittedly, it’s also likely that this was easier for Eminem to do at this stage in this life and career, where he probably has enough money that he could live a wealthy lifestyle for the rest of his life without ever selling another song or performing another concernt. So he can afford to blow off tons of his fans if he wants to. Still, this was a courageous stand to take, so good for him!

Naturally, the responses among many Trump supports isn’t so positive. Many of them keep pointing out Eminem’s history of offensive rap lyrics, and saying liberals and especially feminists are being hypocritical by praising him now. And I’ll admit that they have a point, as it’s one that I’ve sort of made before myself. I first saw that top image regarding Eminem not using the word Nigga in his songs on Tumblr years ago. I challenged the person who posted it then, by pointing out that while may not have used that derogatory word for Black people he’s used many derogatory words for women and homosexuals in his music.

Still, in this case, look who he’s attacking. Look at what Trump’s said, like bragging about just grabbing women by the pussy, and referring to athlete’s who take a knee during the National Anthem as “sons of bitches.” But now you people are concerned with bad language?!? We’re going to hold rappers to higher standards than we hold Presidents of the United States?!?

Seriously, where was all the right-wing outrage about profane song lyrics back in April when Kid Rock and Ted Nugent were invited to dinner at the White House?!?

Bitches, they think I’m sexist/ but all I want baby is your grits for breakfast
Eggs, bacon, home cooked fries/and gimme a plate of that pussy on the side – Kid Rock

And Ted Nugent? Well, read for yourself.

So spare me the righteous indignation, Trump supporters.