Rapper and entrepreneur 50 Cent said he believes black men are identifying with President Trump ahead of the November election.
While on Capitol Hill Wednesday, visiting lawmakers alongside civil rights attorney Ben Crump, the musician, whose given name is Curtis Jackson III, told a reporter that he is seeing black men supporting former US President Donald Trump because ‘they’ve got RICO charges [too].’
The Republican presidential contender is currently facing one RICO violation charge in a case percolating through the courts in Georgia.
The charge, which was also handed down to a number of alleged co-conspirators, is related to allegations of interference in the 2020 election.
RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization) charges are most frequently applied to large groups conducting some sort of alleged organized crime.
After the law was enacted in 1970, it was famously applied to Mafia families in New York City. More recently, it has been used in a handful of high-profile gang-related cases.
Last year, in Minnesota, the state attorney used RICO charges to indict 45 gang members in the Twin Cities.
In addition to the pending Georgia case, Trump was found guilty last week on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records by a Manhattan jury last week.
Trump supporters and MAGA allies have uniformly condemned the conviction as the ‘rigged’ outcome of a politically motivated trial.
50 Cent was in the nation’s capital this week to discuss representation for black entrepreneurs in the liquor industry, where he is a player with his 2014 founded company Sire Spirits.
Jackson visited with big name Republican and Democrat lawmakers, including Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and controversial Republican congresswoman Lauren Boebert.
Of his visit, the businessman told USA Today: ‘This is really exciting for me. I got a chance to meet with both sides today, and it feels really good.
‘[Lawmakers] don’t agree on a lot of stuff, and so to get them to agree on seeing me was an accomplishment in itself.
‘My experience here has been great. I went to talk to them about economic opportunities for everybody, and it’s really exciting. The response I got makes me feel that there’s bright days ahead of us,’ he said.
Despite his separate Wednesday mission, the musician briefly weighed in on the upcoming election with his comments, though they were not the first he has made ahead of November.
Back in March, he disclosed on X that he thinks ‘Trump’s gonna be president again,’ before adding, ‘but I’m not gonna say that.’
Weeks before that, he reacted with anger and confusion to a plan proposed by NYC Mayor Eric Adams’ administration that would give illegal migrant families prepaid credit cards.
‘WTF Mayor Adams call my phone. I don’t understand how this works, somebody explain this. I’m stuck, maybe TRUMP is the answer.’
Shortly after posting that sentiment to Instagram, someone from Adams’ office did evidently call his phone to talk through the proposal, which was pitched as a way to deal with the overwhelming number of migrants being deposited in the Big Apple fresh from the border.
A few days later, 50 Cent posted again: ‘I talk to @NYCMayor Eric Adams he broke down why this pilot program was put in place. He appeared to be on point, and on top of things.
‘Now I want to talk to @GovKathyHochul about the laws preventing him from doing things to make the situation better in New York. and where the proposed 2.4 billion she’s planning on spending on migrants is coming from … NOT MY TAXES,’ he added.
Though the rapper has not formally endorsed Trump this cycle, he did in 2020 after finding out about President Biden’s proposed tax plan.
‘WHAT THE F***! (VOTE For TRUMP) IM OUT. F*** NEW YORK The KNICKS never win anyway. I don’t care Trump doesn’t like Black people 62% are you out of ya f***ing mind,’ he wrote in October of 2020.
Though there is some evidence to suggest that portions of the black population are more engaged in a positive capacity with the Trump campaign than in years past, the majority of black organizations, political and otherwise, still identify Trump as a significant threat to the country and their communities.