LONDON—A British rapper and entrepreneur explains why he would vote for Trump if he was an American.
Zuby Udezue, who’s kept his American accent, from going to an international school in Saudi Arabia, describes himself as the “Jordan Peterson of rap” in one of his tracks.
Q: On Twitter, you said that if you were American, you’d vote for Trump. Why is that?
A: Whenever something starts “on Twitter” I’m like “Oh gosh why did I say that.” Why would I vote for Trump? Because I think he’s the best person for the job right now, compared to all of the opposition, all of the candidates coming up against him. I think he is head and shoulders above the other candidates. In terms of policies, in terms of actions, in terms of, my personal perspective. I agree with his policies and general ideas and success thus far, more so than any of the other candidates.
That would be my main reason. I think in the last couple of years, he’s mostly done a good job. I understand there’s some aspects from his personality, some things he’s said, some things he’s done, that a lot of people don’t like, and that’s what a lot of people focus on—whether that’s individual and the media, but in the bigger scheme of things, in terms of being rational and pragmatic, in my personal view, I think he’s doing a pretty good job.
I don’t want to make public predictions, but I do think he’s going to win another term.
Q: Any particular policies that stand out to you?
A: There’s two sides for me. It’s his policies, and then the policies of his opposition, which, many of them I oppose. I don’t like the modern democratic party.
I’m not American, I’m not going to vote, but if I was an American, there are very few people on that side of the aisle, who right now are coming with good ideas, or even moral ideas. I don’t like the stuff they are pushing. I don’t like all the racial identity politics, I don’t like the fact they are pushing for late-term abortions, I don’t like things like, wanting it so that murderers and serial killers would be allowed to vote. They are not running on anything I agree with personally. And I directly oppose some of them, it’s not even that I’m ambivalent. And I would say, no I wouldn’t, I wouldn’t stand for that, and I know that Trump is not supporting that.
There’s two different ways I find people look at Trump right, some people focus on what he tweeted, or what he said, or some comment, or some insult he threw at somebody or something right. You’ve got people who focus on the emotional side of it. And people like myself who detach myself from the emotional stuff, like ok cool, I don’t agree with some of that, I don’t agree with everything he said. It’s not like yeah I’m 100 percent on board with everything he’s said or done. I’m not like that with any human being. In the grander scheme of things, do I think he’s doing a good job? Yes, I do.
I also think it’s very good that he’s challenged the media. He’s exposed a lot of dishonest people, a lot of dishonest media organizations. They’ve been pushing this whole Russia collusion narrative for well over two years now, that has turned out to be garbage. He’s called them out on it. He’s opposed to restrictions on freedom of speech, and absurd levels of political correctness. Which on a cultural level, on a societal level, I think it’s good. Protecting free speech.
There’s a bunch of stuff. To me, if I was an American in 2016, it would have been a little bit like hmm, I’m not sure. I remember telling people this in 2015/2016 and people even in my own family saying I would be crazy if I were to vote for him
But in 2020 I’d be like yeah, if I were an American, I wouldn’t even need to think about it twice. I’d just be like, yeah, Trump, done.
Q: Is there a fear to support Trump?
There’s fear to say they support him, that’s why all the polls were wrong to begin with. Everybody in the media, everybody in politics got completely blindsided by the fact he won, I remember in 2016. I remember in 2015, 2016, before he even won the Republican nomination, I remember having conversations with people, whether it was friends, or with family, or random strangers, and I was saying this guy has a good chance of winning. People were laughing in my face, people were literally laughing at me, like dude you’re crazy, there’s no way on earth this guy’s going to win.
To me, the job of the president or a prime minister isn’t for me to be mates with them, or for them to be nice and kind and fluffy and to say the right thing. I care about the actions, I care about the policies, I’d rather have someone who, personally don’t particularly like their personality, rather than someone who seems like a really nice guy or a really nice woman, and I’d love to hang out with them, but their policies suck. I’d rather go with the former than the latter for a leader of a country. Not everyone agrees with me on that. That’s a quite basic split in terms of how I’ve seen things.
Q: Why do you want to talk and tweet about it?
A: There’s a lot of silent support, it’s just with the current climate, people don’t want to say what they truly feel or what they truly believe in. But I think the more people do that, the more other people are emboldened to do that. Which is one reason, it’s not the main reason, it’s part of why I think it’s important for me to be honest with people. There’s nothing I believe in that I think is way beyond the pale, or crazy, I’m not some kind of radical. I’m just someone who tries to be rational and pragmatic and reasonable and weigh things up.
I have a weird brain so anything that’s there I just put it out. I do censor myself a little bit, I do have some sort of filter, but I like putting stuff out there. I like generating conversations. I think dialogue is really really important, I think it’s important to hear different voices, different perspectives.
By keeping those channels open, and everyone can communicate, and hopefully, we can all move forward. It doesn’t mean we’ll always get our way and everything, but I think we can all coexist happily, and not hate each other. And be able to, the true definition to tolerance right, the true definition of tolerance. Tolerance isn’t about getting on with everybody who agrees with you. Tolerance is about being able to get along and understand people who think differently from you, and have different beliefs and do different things, so I think that’s the most important thing.
This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity
