Snoop Dogg's Donald Trump Comments Spark Fierce Debate

Snoop Dogg has sparked fierce debate on social media after saying in a new interview that he has "nothing but love and respect for Donald Trump."

The rapper previously directed far less glowing words at the former president. In March 2017, he released a music video showing a mock assassination of a Trump-inspired clown called Ronald Klump.

Condemning the video at the time, Trump wrote on X, then known as Twitter: "Can you imagine what the outcry would be if @SnoopDogg, failing career and all, had aimed and fired the gun at President [Barack] Obama? Jail time!"

In September 2018, Snoop Dogg told DJ Suss that anyone who liked Trump was "racist." The "Gin & Juice" hitmaker said that Trump "drew the lines" of division in his role at the White House. "Before him, there were no lines. Everybody was everybody, we respected everything. We didn't trip," he said at the time.

Months later, in November 2018, the musician shared video footage of himself lighting up a cannabis joint near the White House as he repeatedly aimed expletives at the then-president.

As Republican Trump prepares for an expected election showdown with President Joe Biden this year, Snoop Dogg has revealed a complete change in his stance on the former commander-in-chief.

In an interview with The Sunday Times published over the weekend, the rapper said that Trump "ain't done nothing wrong to me. He has done only great things for me. He pardoned Michael Harris. So I have nothing but love and respect for Donald Trump."

Harris, who co-founded the Death Row record label to which Snoop Dogg was first signed, had been imprisoned on drug offenses.

During the interview, the star was asked if he would share his thoughts on the upcoming election, much like he did when he gave reasons to vote for then-President Obama over Republican challenger Mitt Romney in 2012.

"I may have to," he responded. "Because there are mixed views on that, so I want to see what the people say..."

Newsweek reached out to representatives of Snoop Dogg and Trump via email for comment.

Snoop Dogg's about-turn on Trump has sparked spirited debate on X, where one user wrote: "Interesting. Snoop Dogg will say anything about anyone and shill for any product imaginable as long as it keeps him in the media spotlight and fills his ever growing bank account though. He may flip flop on this again once his commercial sponsors get wind."

"Just goes to show that notoriety comes with bought out statements," said @RedsRepair95. "He's probably been paid to chant anti-Trump rhetoric, and that faucet just turned off. He was alright with him before he was President, then he wasn't, now he is again. I don't know why anyone listens to him."

"Dude hated Trump, now he says this???? Naaa. I don't trust him," one detractor wrote on X, while another called the rapper a "damn sell out."

"Totally blindsided with this. However, I'm not sure I can trust whatever Snoop Dogg says," another X user said.

Amid the flood of negative reactions, a number of Trump supporters welcomed Snoop's apparent change of heart.

"Snoop [Dogg] may like to smoke a lot of weed but he still can think straight," said an X user. "Glad to see him showing his support for President Trump. All Americans, including celebrities, need to support Trump if we're going to save this country."

Another person described Snoop Dogg's change of tune as a sign of people "waking up all across the country and from all walks of life, they know who would be best for America."

"People are seeing the light finally," wrote one Trump supporter, while another welcomed Snoop "to the winning team."

In September 2023, Snoop Dogg's thoughts on Trump became a social media talking point after an X user posted an edited video that showed the star urging people not to vote for the onetime real estate mogul in an expletive-riddled rant.

The video dates back to 2019. In the full-length version of the clip, which was shared on the Daily Mail's website on January 7, 2019, the star was seen addressing "all you federal government people that's not being paid, that's being treated f****** unfairly right now."

Snoop Dogg was speaking in reference to the 2018/2019 government shutdown, which stretched for 35 days over Trump's demands for funding for a wall along the southern border to prevent illegal crossings from Mexico.

The shutdown, which began days before Christmas in 2018, halted most of the government's discretionary operations and left around 800,000 federal employees without continuous pay.

As hundreds of thousands of workers were furloughed, many critical government operations ground to a halt: the Food and Drug Administration discontinued food safety inspections and immigration court hearings were routinely canceled, for example.

At the time that Snoop Dogg unveiled his video, Trump was in the process of ramping up his efforts to run for a second term in the White House in 2020. He would eventually go on to lose to Democrat challenger President Biden.