Tupac Shakur warned against Donald Trump and extreme wealth in 1992 interview
As the Republican frontrunner won yet another primary in New York overnight
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An old video of Tupac Shakur warning against the inequalities perpetuated by extremely wealthy people like Donald Trump has emerged.
The previously unaired 1992 clip shows the rapper, who died four years later in a drive-by shooting at the age of 25, speaking to MTV News about his struggle to comprehend how extremely wealthy people don’t do more to help those less fortunate. Shakur's offhand reference to Trump as an example of someone with incredible wealth has reemerged after the real-estate mogul and Republican frontrunner won yet another primary in New York overnight.
“If you want to be successful, if you want to be like Trump, gimme, gimme, gimme. Push, push, push. Step, step, step. Crush, crush, crush. That’s how it all is, it’s like nobody ever stops,” Shakur told MTV. “[…] I feel like there’s too much money here. Nobody should be hitting £36million on the lottery and there’s people starving on the streets. That's not idealistic, that’s just real,” he says before also highlighting Michael Jackson’s wealth.
“There’s no way Michael Jackson or whoever Jackson should have a million thousand, quadruple billion dollars when there are people starving. There’s no way these people should own planes and there are people who don’t have houses, apartments, shacks, drawers, pants.
“Even if you earned it you still owe,” Shakur added. "I don’t have that mega money but I feel guilty walking by somebody I’ve got to give them some mail. I know if I’ve got £3,000 in my pocket, it’s wrong to give that person a quarter.”
A recent investigation by the Washington Post claimed Trump has not given any of his personal cash to charitable causes in the last five years, although he has donated rounds of golf to charity auctions. In their own report on his charitable giving a year ago, the Associated Press found him to be “nowhere among the ranks of the country’s most generous citizens” despite his billionaire status.
A representative for Trump acknowledged to the Post that none of the gifts in cash had come from the Presidential hopeful himself but said that was because the list analysed “was not a complete account of Trump's gifts”. The representative also said Trump has given “generously” from his own pocket.
The Independent has contacted a representative for Trump for comment.
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