Billy McFarland, once jailed for the Fyre Fest debacle, is now reportedly aiding Donald Trump in connecting with rappers to appeal to Black voters.
McFarland, known for his role in the infamous Fyre Fest, has reportedly been involved in arranging meetings between former U.S. President Donald Trump and various rappers. This move is part of Trump’s strategy to attract Black voters for his 2024 presidential campaign.
According to a Rolling Stone report, McFarland, who served a prison sentence for fraud related to Fyre Fest, has facilitated at least two such meetings.
A source close to Detroit rapper Icewear Vezzo disclosed that McFarland connected him with Trump ahead of the former president’s visit to Detroit. Similarly, McFarland is credited with linking Brooklyn rappers Sheff G and Sleepy Hallow to Trump, leading to their appearance at a Bronx campaign rally in May.
Despite these connections, sources from the Trump campaign assert that McFarland holds no formal role within the campaign. However, he remains a contact for when Trump’s team wishes to engage with celebrities and musical artists. This broader strategy includes efforts by several Republicans to recruit hip hop artists and producers to meet Trump or endorse his campaign.
The interactions between Trump and these artists are reportedly part of a larger attempt to shift some Black voters away from the Democratic Party. Trump’s team is leveraging his previous endorsements from artists like Lil Wayne and his presidential pardons of rappers like Lil Wayne and Kodak Black in an attempt to build credibility within the hip hop community.
Moreover, Trump has expressed a keen interest in increasing his visibility with hip hop artists during the 2024 campaign, even if they do not explicitly endorse him.
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Despite these efforts, the effectiveness of Trump’s strategy remains to be seen. A Pew Research survey from May indicated a significant preference for Biden over Trump among Black voters nationwide, although there is a perception among some Democrats that Biden is particularly vulnerable among Black voters in key states.
However, New York Times and Sienna polls of six battleground states show that 71% of Black voters would vote for Biden, while Trump’s tally is just 22%.
