Mopreme Shakur, the late Tupac step brother, was not happy with the Trump campaign using the rapper in an attempt to poke fun at Kamala Harris during the Vice President debate earlier this week. Shakur reportedly told TMZ that the use of his brother as a prop to mock the vice presidential hopeful was “clearly disrespectful” to his family.
Trump’s campaign teased Harris by setting aside a ticket for Tupac at the debate on Wednesday (Oct. 8), after she mistakenly referred to the late rapper as the “greatest rapper alive” in a previous interview. Shakur said he wasn’t surprised by the move as “we should know Trump’s lack of respect for the Black and brown community.”
Although he doesn’t expect an apology, the rapper’s brother told the news outlet that the president can make it up to the family by releasing his father, Tupac’s stepfather, from prison. His dad, Mutulu, was sentenced to 60 years in 1988 for RICO conspiracy, armed bank robbery and bank robbery killings, and has been denied parole eight times.
A journalist tweeted the day of the debate that the campaign had confirmed that they were leaving a ticket for the rapper during a press call. “The Trump campaign is leaving a ticket for Tupac Shakur at tonight’s VP debate because Kamala Harris called him her favorite rapper alive,” she tweeted. “(This is not a joke and was confirmed by Trump campaign senior adviser @JasonMillerinDC on a press call).”
White House and national political correspondent for RealClearPolitics, Susan Crabtree Hennebury, also confirmed the news with a tweet featuring words from Jason Miller. “We have left a ticket for Tupac Shakur, Sen. Harris’ favorite rapper alive…,” the tweet read. “I’m personally more of a Biggie fan if he’s still alive, b[ut] we will have a ticket for Tupac.”
While speaking to TMZ, Shakur expressed his support for Harris, regardless of her slip up, and encouraged everyone to go out and vote in the upcoming presidential election.