Trump Campaign Leaves ‘Petty’ Ticket for Tupac at Last Night’s VP Debate Which Backfires as Support Trends for Kamala Harris
The first Vice Presidential debate was held on Wednesday night, and Trump’s campaign used the opportunity to be petty.
This is the first time that Vice President Mike Pence and VP candidate Kamala Harris had the chance to debate face to face over the issues faced by the country. The campaign left a ticket for late rapper Tupac Shakur after Harris said that he was her favorite rapper “alive.”
The Trump campaign is leaving a ticket for Tupac Shakur at tonight’s VP debate because Kamala Harris called him her favorite rapper alive
— Amber Athey (@amber_athey) October 7, 2020
While it seems that the importance of the debate would be issues like police brutality, COVID-19, and the economy, the ticket left for Tupac was a trending topic before the debate even started. The ticket was left by Trump’s Senior Campaign Advisor Jason Miller, who mentioned the rapper at the end of a press call. Harris’ admiration of the artist began trending on twitter after she named Shakur as her favorite rapper.
.@JasonMillerinDC zings Harris at the end of the Trump campaign’s press call previewing the vp’s debate.
“We have left a ticket for Tupac Shakur, Sen. Harris’ favorite rapper alive… I’m personally more of a Biggie fan, if he’s still alive, b we will have a ticket for Tupac.”
— Susan Crabtree Hennebury (@susancrabtree) October 7, 2020
In September, while being interviewed by political commentator Angela Rye, Harris misspoke, saying that Tupac Shakur was the best rapper alive. Shakur was murdered in 1996, Harris did realize her mistake and tried to think of another rapper to name. However, social media took her misstatement, and it went viral.
Kamala Harris asked, who’s the best rapper alive?
She answers @2PAC
Then says “Not alive, I know, I keep doing that.”
Tries to think of another living rapper. “There’s some I would not mention right now because they should stay in their lane.” pic.twitter.com/MZJ5FZC4qP
— Emily Larsen (@emilyelarsen) September 25, 2020
The trending topic led to social media dissecting the rapper’s past interviews and what could have been his opinion on the current state of our country. Shakur was known to be an outspoken advocate for the people, and was known for his famous quote: “I’m not saying that I’m gonna change the world, but I guarantee that I will spark the brain that will change the world.”
since tupac is trending, here he is talking about how capitalism produces grotesque inequality pic.twitter.com/3vcS9zAj4E
— ☀️👀 (@zei_squirrel) October 7, 2020
Saving a deceased rapper ticket may have been a low blow, meant to insult the vice-presidential candidate, but there may have been a different result. Social media reacted to the pettiness of reserving a ticket for someone who is no longer alive, especially during a pandemic where more than 200,000 Americans have died. Others took this time to remember that while Tupac was a rapper who made songs about sex, drugs, and violence, he was a man with strong views on the country he was raised in and what it could become.
We can only hope that Trump’s campaign will focus on American citizens’ needs going forward and not focus on making jokes.
