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Kid Rock has delivered a surprising statement in response to Donald Trump’s election win.
Trump declared a victory on Wednesday (6 November) after winning the required number of electoral college votes to secure the presidency, and beat Democrat candidate Kamala Harris to return to the White House.
Perhaps one of Trump’s most loyal supporters has been country singer Kid Rock, who’s appeared alongside him at several of his rallies.
Ahead of the Republican National Convention, at which he performed his 2000 hit “American Bad Ass,” the “All Summer Long” singer, 53, tweeted a video of himself, saying: “We just touched down in Milwaukee to support our tried and true, red white and blue, 100% American badass president… God bless Donald Trump and God bless America.”
However on Saturday (9 November), the singer, whose real name is Robert Ritchie, delivered his official US election reaction, dressed in a bright red outfit with white cowboy hat that reads MAGA (Make America Great Again), and smoking a cigar.
He throws up a middle finger as his rock persona before returning in a simple white T-Shirt and shorts as “Bob Ritchie”. At this point some sentimental music plays as Ritchie provides a voiceover alongside images of the American flag and autumn leaves.
“First off, let me convey to my family, friends, and supporters that now is not the time to gloat,” he says, his voice echoing in the footage.
“We must remember that most of our left-leaning friends are good people, who want the same things in life as we do, but simply think differently on how to get there.”
He added, “It is now time to be the bigger man, to extend an olive branch and unite all reasonable people of this great nation.”
He concluded the video with clips of Trump’s assassination attempt and him defiantly raising a fist in the air in the aftermath of the attack.
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He said: “God has blessed America, and together with President Trump, we will make America great again.”
The video then ends with information about his headline slot at the Rock the Country music festival.
The songwriter has been at the centre of controversy throughout Trump’s campaign. Over the last couple of years he has repeatedly promoted his conservative beliefs, often without filter.
Earlier this year, he fervently defended and promoted his political beliefs in an inflammatory interview with Rolling Stone magazine in which he used racist language, allegedly wielded a gun at a journalist and made sweeping negative generalisations about groups of people.
