Run the Jewels' Killer Mike defends gun ownership in new NRA video

Run the Jewels rapper Killer Mike made an appearance in an NRA video to defend gun ownership and criticise National Walkout Day.

Interviewed by NRATV host Colion Noir, Killer Mike told left-leaning individuals in favour of gun control: “You can’t continue to be the lackey. You’re a lackey of the progressive movement, because you’ve never disagreed with the people who tell you what to do.”

The rapper has historically been aligned with progressive views - he supported Bernie Sanders in 2016 - so his appearance in an NRA-backed video has come as a surprise to many.

"There was something that the woman who is the NRA spokesperson [Dana Loesch] said and everybody just kinda lost it… Dana says that the tears of white mothers are like ratings. And that's so true and it was so sad to hear her acknowledge it, but it's true, and black people know it's true," he said, adding of the black community, "You're not woke! You can’t continue to be the lackey."

He said that he dissuaded his children from participating in National Walkout Day, which saw students organise mass walkouts of schools nationwide in the protest of gun violence. “I told my kids on the school walkout: ‘I love you—if you walk out that school, walk out my house...’ We are not a family that jumps on every single thing an ally of ours does, because some stuff we just don’t agree with," he said.

He further lambasted the anti-bullying movement, stating: "We are raising a generation of kids where everyone gets a trophy. But in real life, everyone don’t get a trophy. In real life, the cops don’t come on time. In real life, depending on where you live, you’re not gonna have the time to try to logic your way out of something.”

The video received heavy backlash, with producer and media personality Tariq Nasheed writing on Twitter: "I love Killer Mike. Thats my brother. He made some excellent points about Black gun ownership. The problem is, he is talking about it on the NRA platform & the NRA could give LESS THAN A DAMN about protecting Black people's 2nd Amendment rights. Ask the family of Philando Castille."

Run the Jewels partner El-P has come out against the NRA, responding to Noir's highly controversial comments which suggested no one would know the name of the protesting Parkland students if their classmates hadn't died. He tweeted in response: "They didn't want to be known they wanted to be kids. and they've earned being heard in one of the hardest ways possible. no matter what you believe we all have to listen in a real way. its owed to them and many others. thats my take on it.".

Killer Mike responded to several criticisms himself, explaining that the video was speaking to black gun owners. "Voicing an opinion telling African Americans To own and train with fire arms in a country that allows public servants to kill them is stupid now... ok,” he wrote on Twitter. “My point remains ‘Black People Own and train with ya fire arm becuz i don’t trust this country’.”

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