Former President Barack Obama momentarily lost himself in the music after he was introduced by rapper Eminem at a campaign rally in Detroit. “I have done a lot of rallies, so I don’t usually get nervous,” Obama said as he took to the stage to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday. “But I was feeling some kind of way following Eminem.
” Obama then launched into the opening verse from one of the star’s most famous songs, “Lose Yourself,” from the 2002 film “8 Mile” — adapting the lyrics so they were in the first-person. “I notice my palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy, vomit on my sweater already, mom’s spaghetti, I’m nervous but on the surface I look calm and ready to drop bombs but I keep on forgetting,” Obama rapped as the crowd cheered. “Love, love me some Eminem,” he added.
The campaign moment during the first week of early voting in Michigan sparked a large reaction on social media, with one user describing it as “one of the most unexpected best scenes of 2024.” Before introducing Obama in his hometown, Eminem, 52, urged people “to get out and vote,” and endorsed Harris. Among the northern swing states that make up the “blue wall,” Michigan might provide the most fertile territory for Democrats, judging by their success in statewide and state legislative races.
“President Obama reciting Eminem lyrics is peak millennial activation,” Ashley Schapitl, a Treasury Department spokesperson, posted on X. Eminem h.
