Pusha T has been one of the most outspoken Hip Hop figures throughout the 2016 presidential election contest.
As a staunch advocate for Hillary Clinton, Pusha is an active surrogate for the Democratic candidate’s bid to win the White House.
Many African-Americans have been critical of Clinton because of her support for President Bill Clinton’s Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994.
The ’94 Crime Bill caused a sharp rise in incarceration nationwide which disproportionately affected African-Americans and Hispanics.
“It was a horrible bill,” Pusha T told New York Magazine. “But I try to tell people that it is a very layered bill, meaning there are good parts and bad parts, and to pass some of the good, you had to pass some of the bad. Bill Clinton wouldn’t have gotten elected being soft on crime.”
The G.O.O.D. Music president has made criminal justice reform a central part of his personal political pitch. He has seen the negative results of locking up millions of black men firsthand.
“Everything we’re talking about right now has done amazing damage to my time, my era, my whole growing process. Everyone who grew up within that time period, we’re talking about those issues right this second,” expressed Push.
So how can the Virginia emcee still vote for Hillary Clinton when she and her husband were partly responsible for the imprisonment of so many people?
“What made me know that I was going to support Hillary wholeheartedly was that her, Bill, and Bernie [Sanders] spoke out and said, ‘Yo, [mass incarceration] is a mistake. We have to fix this, period,’” said Pusha.
He added, “I can’t dwell into the inner workings of her mind. But the fact that she’s speaking on mass incarceration, I decided I’m going to support her and I’m going to make this my issue that I see through.”
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