Endorsements, how do they work?
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Violent J, left, and Shaggy 2 Dope, the rappers who make up Insane Clown Posse, last month. Violent J recently told an interviewer that he supported Vice President Kamala Harris.
The clowns are for Kamala.
Violent J, who makes up one-half of the rap duo Insane Clown Posse, recently told an interviewer during a segment on “The Daily Show” that he supported Vice President Kamala Harris. His biggest issues: taxation of the poor, women’s rights and incurring the wrath of his mother if he does not vote.
“I want her to win because she’s a Democrat, and I love my mom,” Violent J, a Detroit native, said in one of the few printable quotes from an expletive-laced interview that aired last week.
The celebrity endorsement from Violent J — whose legal name is Joseph Frank Bruce — might not be as coveted as, say, Taylor Swift’s, but Insane Clown Posse has one of the most devoted fan bases in popular music. Up to two million people self-identify as fans, or Juggalos or Juggalettes, according to some assessments.
The group’s supporters tend to be young, male, and disengaged from the political process, and they sometimes view themselves as outsiders. Those are the exact types of people both Ms. Harris and former President Donald J. Trump are trying to win over in a very tight race. Insane Clown Posse’s roots in Detroit mean that Michigan, a key battleground state, is the heart of the Juggalo movement.
Which is not to say, of course, that clowns could decide the election.
Insane Clown Posse has a complicated history with the federal government. In 2014, the duo unsuccessfully sued the Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation after the F.B.I.’s National Gang Intelligence Center classified Juggalos as “a loosely organized hybrid gang.” The center cited episodes in which people suspected of being “Juggalo associates” had committed violent acts. The rap pair’s argument was that they had been misunderstood.
Over the next 13 days, the race will be a mad scramble for undecided or tuned-out voters. Mr. Bruce may speak for at least a handful of them.
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Source: nytimes.com
