--- title: BET Hiphop Awards 2017: Eminem Donald Trump Freestyle description: Eminem took aim at President Donald Trump in a freestyle released during the BET Hip Hop Awards Tuesday night. canonical: https://time.com/4977218/eminem-freestyle-trump-bet-hip-hop-awards/ author: Kevin Lui article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-10-11T02:18:33.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:47:27.118Z og:title: Watch the Eminem Freestyle Everyone's Talking About og:description: "What we got in the White House now is a kamikaze" og:url: https://time.com/4977218/eminem-freestyle-trump-bet-hip-hop-awards/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt61dece80ee11923a/6988e1688fd2ee880f359365/gettyimages-453054740.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5173 og:image:height: 2910 og:image:alt: 2014 Lollapalooza - Day 1 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watch the Eminem Freestyle Everyone's Talking About twitter:description: "What we got in the White House now is a kamikaze" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt61dece80ee11923a/6988e1688fd2ee880f359365/gettyimages-453054740.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 'We’re Not Afraid of Trump.' 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=49cdcb0d-598f-43f7-a785-9e95e136961c&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Donald Trump Keeps Cursing. Here’s Why It Might Help Him [Watch (HLS stream): Donald Trump Keeps Cursing. Here’s Why It Might Help Him](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/yzmVWJ8R.m3u8) (2:51)  _Published 2017-10-11. If the Trump Administration were a movie, it would be rated R for language._ by [Kevin Lui](https://time.com/author/kevin-lui/) ## Kevin Lui Oct 11, 2017 2:18 AM UTC  Eminem performs at Samsung Galaxy stage during 2014 Lollapalooza in Chicago, Ill. on Aug, 1, 2014. Eminem performs at Samsung Galaxy stage during 2014 Lollapalooza in Chicago, Ill. on Aug, 1, 2014. Barry Brecheisen—WireImage by [Kevin Lui](https://time.com/author/kevin-lui/) ## Kevin Lui Oct 11, 2017 2:18 AM UTC Eminem took aim at President Donald Trump in a freestyle released during the BET Hip Hop Awards Tuesday night. “It’s the calm before the storm right here,” the rapper begins in the four-minute clip, before a relentless cascade of criticism of the Trump administration. From the President’s Twitter feuds, to his spats with professional football players, to gun control, to what the rapper calls Trump’s “endorsement of clansmen,” Eminem hammered out a long list of complaints. “We better give Obama props, cuz what we got in the White House now is a kamikaze that’ll probably cause a nuclear holocaust,” he said in the track to a rapt audience in a parking garage. “Any fan of mine who’s a supporter of his, I’m drawing in the sand a line, you’re either for or against,” he continued. The new verse comes almost a year after his [first searing tune](http://time.com/4537074/eminem-on-trump-campaign-speech/) about Trump, then the Republican presidential candidate, an expletive-laden track titled “Campaign Trail.” Watch the full video above. ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] If the Trump administration were a movie, it would be rated R for language. Political ****. Many politicians curse, but only rarely in public. But Donald Trump has taken the practice to new heights, regularly using vulgar language in televised rallies. They're ripping the **** out of the sea. Most recently, he insulted professional athletes like Colin Kaepernick Who take a knee during the national anthem. Get that son of a **** off the field right now. Out! He's fired! Trump used to be even more profane, using a particularly vulgar term in 2006 to criticize then Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. I wish she was a [ BLEEP ]. I don't care if she's a lovely woman. One notorious speech in 2011 was laced with f- bombs about China and other subjects. You're not gonna raise that ****' price, you understand me. Listen you **** we're gonna tax you 25 %. Trump's use of profanity can be strategic. One study found that people thought legal testimony was more credible when it included swear words. And another study in Italy found that they had more favorable impressions of political candidates who cursed [ MUSIC ] Swearing plays into Trump's self- image as a truth teller, unafraid of being politically incorrect. Our country is going to hell. I don't give a damn if it doesn't work for me. He's also used it for emphasis to show that while everyone else promises to say fight terrorists, he'll be tougher. I would bomb the **** out of them. [ APPLAUSE ]. Trump also uses curse words to belittle and denigrate his opponents, as he did while running against Texas Senator Ted Cruz in the Republican primary. She just said a terrible thing. You know what she said? Shout it out. Cause, I don't want to. [ LAUGH ]. She said I never expect to hear that from you again. She said he's a ****. That's terrible. Terrible! Trump's public use of cursing has started to catch on, especially among Democrats. Not that damned wall! But there's a paradox. While Trump's public use of swear words has helped him, his most famous private cursing in the Access Hollywood video got him in trouble. He even issued a rare apology. I moved on her like a ****. I couldnt' get there and she was married. And when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Whatever you want. Grab by the [ BLEEP ]. Swearing works because it's the kind of thing you're not supposed to say in public. When Trump swears, he's signalling to his audience that he's talking the same way that he would in private, a classical rhetorical move from a populus who criticizes career politicians [ MUSIC ] But even for Trump, who's willing to say quite a lot of things publicly that other people wouldn't there are some conversations that aren't meant to be public. This was locker room talk. I'm not proud of it. I apologize to my family. I apologize to the American people. Certainly, I'm not proud of it, but this is locker room talk [ UNKNOWN ] [ MUSIC ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4977218/eminem-freestyle-trump-bet-hip-hop-awards/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4977218/eminem-freestyle-trump-bet-hip-hop-awards/"},"headline":"'We’re Not Afraid of Trump.' 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