Snoop Dogg says he didn’t endorse a candidate in the 2024 U.S. presidential election because he doesn’t “believe in separating people” — to the frustration of his fans.
“I’m not looking for separation, I’m not looking for division — I’m looking for people to come together,” Snoop says in a clip that went viral on social media Saturday. “And I just want to say this: When all of the hoopla was going on with the voting, notice how I was nowhere to be seen?”
“I wanted it to be like that,” he added. “’Cause I don’t believe in separating people. I believe in bringing us together. … If you’re picking and choosing, now I gotta make people mad at me, because I chose this or chose that. I don’t choose neither one.”
Snoop argued that he doesn’t “represent the Republican Party or the Democratic Party,” and concluded with a reference to his 1996 song with Tupac Shakur, “2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted”: He said he represents “the motherfucking gangster party.”
The footage was taken Wednesday in Hollywood, California during the unveiling of Snoop’s new jewelry line, Lovechild. The viral clip is undated, but the rapper’s outfit in the video matches what he’s wearing in Getty press photos taken during the event, and the entrepreneur Carolyn Rafaelian, who collaborated on the jewelry brand with Snoop, can be seen beside him in both the clip and the Getty photos.
While onlookers at the event enthusiastically reacted to Snoop’s comments, fans on social media weren’t so happy.
“Snoop Dogg held a gun to the head of a Donald Trump lookalike in a music video a few years back,” wrote one user on X, formerly Twitter, in reference to the 2017’s “Lavender,” in which the rapper points a gun at a clown dressed like Trump. “He’s a liar.”
A long list of fellow entertainers, from Beyoncé to longtime Snoop collaborator Eminem, came out in favor of Democratic candidate Kamala Harris ahead of the November election. But Snoop has backed off of his Trump criticism recently. He issued a stern message to all “punk motherfucker” Trump voters in 2019, only to renege earlier this year.
“He ain’t done nothing wrong to me,” Snoop told The Sunday Times in an interview in January. “He has done only great things for me. He pardoned [Death Row Records co-founder] Michael Harris. So I have nothing but love and respect for Donald Trump.”
Some commenters guessed that Snoop, with his variety of businesses, might have had financial reasons for not endorsing a candidate.
“Just like other celebrities and politicians or media folks… walk back your previous stance because it will impact future earnings and PR,” wrote one user on X. “I’m not buying it from these people anymore.”