With the U.S. presidential election drawing closer, tensions are rising higher and higher online — and celebrities are no exception.
Over the weekend Donald Trump supporter and rally guest Elon Musk hit his own platform X (formerly Twitter) to criticise Cardi B’s appearance at a Kamala Harris rally in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Friday
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During her speech, the rapper said she wasn’t going to vote in the election until Harris joined the race.
“Just like Kamala Harris, I, too, have been the underdog, I’ve been underestimated. My success belittled and discredited,” Cardi B said. “Women have to work ten times harder, perform ten times better, and still people question us, how we got to the top. I can’t stand a bully, but just like Kamala, I always stand up to one.”
Cardi B took aim at Trump’s stance on abortion and reproductive rights and history of misogyny, specifically pointing to Trump’s maligned comments about protecting women “whether [they] like it or not”.
“Did you hear what Donny Trump said the other day?” asked the rapper. “He says he’s going to protect women whether they ‘like it or not.'”
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“Protection for women, especially if we’re talking about maternal and mental health care, isn’t telling them what to do with their bodies. It’s supporting them and giving them the care that they need for what they choose to do with their bodies. People like Donald Trump don’t believe women deserve rights. And when those rights are taken away, they are nowhere to be found.”
“If his definition of protection is not the freedom of choice, if his definition of protection is making sure our daughters have fewer rights than our mothers, then I don’t want it,” she added.
At the beginning of her speech, Cardi B’s teleprompter failed, and she continued her speech reading from a phone — and it’s this part of the speech that Musk shared on his own platform.
“Another puppet who can’t even talk without being fed the words,” wrote the tech billionaire on X. “The Kamala campaign has no authenticity or true empathy.”
Since endorsing Trump on X in July, Musk has gone all in on publicly supporting the Republican candidate, whether beefing up his own platform, appearing himself at rallies, or offering million-dollar swing state payouts.
So yes, Cardi B saw Musk’s post — and didn’t hesitate to hit back.
“I’m not a puppet Elon,” wrote Cardi. “I’m a daughter of two immigrant parents that had to work their ass off to provide for me! I’m a product of welfare, I’m a product of section 8, I’m a product of poverty and I’m a product of what happens when the system is set up against you….But you don’t know nothing about that. You don’t know not one thing about the American struggle….
“PS fix my algorithm.”