Barack Obama says rap and TV shows helped fuel rise of Donald Trump

‘A lot of rap videos are using the same measures of what it means to be successful as Donald Trump is’

Barack Obama has suggested that American pop culture – including rap music and some TV shows – helped fuel the rise of Donald Trump.

The former US president broached the topic in a sweeping interview with The Atlantic.

At one point during the conversation, Obama reflected on the parts of American culture he believes helped make Trump’s brand popular, by extolling materialism and emphasising wealth and status.

“I’m not surprised there was a market for populism, not just in the United States but around the world,” Obama said, to which interviewer and editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg replied: “You’re just surprised by the horse populism rode in on.”

“Yes, and it’s this indication of parts of popular culture that I’ve missed,” Obama elaborated.

"It’s interesting—people are writing about the fact that Trump increased his support among Black men [in the 2020 presidential election], and the occasional rapper who supported Trump. I have to remind myself that if you listen to rap music, it’s all about the bling, the women, the money.

“A lot of rap videos are using the same measures of what it means to be successful as Donald Trump is. Everything is gold-plated. That insinuates itself and seeps into the culture.”

Obama also referenced the TV series Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, which aired from 1984 to 1995 and which documented the existences of wealthy people. 

 “America has always had a caste system—rich and poor, not just racially but economically—but it wasn’t in your face most of the time when I was growing up,” he said. 

“Then you start seeing Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, that sense that either you’ve got it or you’re a loser. And Donald Trump epitomizes that cultural movement that is deeply ingrained now in American culture.”

The former president, whose memoir A Promised Land is out today, has also shared the playlist that helped inspire him during his eight years at the White House. 

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In recent interviews, he urged Donald Trump to admit his loss in the 2020 presidential election and joked Michelle Obama would leave him if he took a job in Joe Biden’s administration.