Barack Obama Endorses Former Rapper Running for New York Congress
Former President Barack Obama released his list of 2018 midterm endorsements on Wednesday (Aug. 1) and included on the lengthy list is former rapper turned Congress-hopeful, Antonio Delgado.
"Today I’m proud to endorse such a wide and impressive array of Democratic candidates – leaders as diverse, patriotic, and big-hearted as the America they’re running to represent," Obama wrote in his tweet.
Delgado, a Schenectady, N.Y. native, was once an aspiring rapper who went by the name A.D. the Voice and released his only album, Painfully Free, in 2006. On his songs, Delgado rapped about "the hypocrisy of democracy" and attacked oil executives for "counting dollars and cents" while soldiers died in Baghdad.
A self-described "working class kid," Delgado is now running on a platform of fighting for universal healthcare, as well as equal pay for women. "It is deeply troubling that [Republican Joe Faso] voted against equal pay four times while a member of the New York State Assembly; his is not a voting record consistent with the values of our region," he said.
Delgado is not the first rapper to try his hand at politics. In 2010, Rhymefest ran for Chicago Alderman of the 20th Ward and nearly won. The Windy City MC racked up 47percent of the vote, just losing out to Willie Cochran.
Dupre Kelly, known as DoItAll of Lords Of the Underground fame, also made a run for councilman in New Jersey last year. "I’m running for every ward, every ward that feels they’ve been walled off from the rest of the city," the rapper said.
Check out Obama's tweet below.
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