Macklemore's Refusal to Vote for Joe Biden Sparks Fierce Debate

Macklemore has divided the internet after revealing in his new song that he won't be voting for Joe Biden in the 2024 election.

On May 6, the rapper shared the track "Hind's Hall," which supports a free Palestine and student protests, on his social media accounts. The song also pays tribute to six-year-old Hind Rajab, a Palestinian child who was killed by the Israeli military days after she had called emergency services begging to be rescued. The song's title refers to the name Pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University gave to a building they occupied on campus.

Macklemore is one of the only major music artists who has publicly criticized the U.S. government's ongoing support of Israel. He has also echoed the sentiments of protesters in the track by saying: "The blood is on your hands, Biden, we can see it all / And f*** no, I'm not votin' for you in the fall."

Newsweek emailed spokespeople for Macklemore and Biden for comment Thursday.

Biden is facing pressure over his handling of the conflict in Gaza from Democratic lawmakers and voters, potentially threatening his chances of reelection in November. There has also been concern that Biden's handling of the war has resulted in him losing support among younger voters.

With Macklemore's millions of followers on social media—21 million on X (formerly Twitter) and 5.7 million on Instagram—if enough fans follow suit and don't vote for Biden it could have a real impact on the election in battleground states where the margins between Biden and Donald Trump are razor thin.

People have taken to X to criticize Macklemore for saying he won't vote for Biden, with many sharing their concern that this could result in Trump winning the election.

"It's easy for your white, straight male ass to say your not voting for Biden and encourage others to vote undecided. You won't suffer from a Trump presidency, but my Black community will," one person wrote.

"You're right about a lot of what you say in this song @macklemore. Except the part about not voting for Biden. If you don't vote Biden, then Trump wins. Trump will be worse for Palestinians than Joe is, and he's going to end democracy in America," said another.

"i am begging you all to watch the whole thing. with macklemore saying he's not voting for biden in his new song, i fear more people will not vote. please remember: not voting = a vote for trump. voting 3rd party = a vote for trump. i need you all to understand this. PLEASE!!" a third person said on X.

A fourth added: "Threatening to abandon Biden is a threat to the most marginalized among us. Republicans are going to revoke Social Security, Medicare, and Obamacare. Old and disabled people will be out on the streets. LGBTQ people will be persecuted. Only straight, white males will have rights."

However, some have shown their support for Macklemore's decision.

"Imagine telling someone in 2016 that Joe Biden will run a campaign 1000 times worse than Hilary Clinton and that Macklemore is actually onto something," one person said.

"macklemore really went from 'party in the streets when hillary wins!' to 'F*** YOU biden and F*** voting for you' and i'm real proud of him for that," a different X user wrote.

Even right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk weighed in, writing: "Rapper Macklemore just released a pro-Palestine song saying Joe Biden has blood on his hands in Gaza and 'f*** no' he won't vote for him in November. Joe Biden's Israel problem isn't going away. Donald Trump is the only anti-war candidate on the ballot."

On Wednesday, Biden admitted that U.S. bombs had been used to kill Palestinians in Gaza and said he wouldn't supply Israel with bombs that could be used to attack the city of Rafah.

Biden made the comments in an interview with CNN following his decision last week to halt a shipment of 3,500 bombs to Israel due to concerns they could be used in a ground assault in Gaza.

According to The Associated Press (AP), more than a million civilians have sheltered in Rafah since the war broke out after Hamas' October 7 deadly attack on Israel.

Gaza health officials say that more than 34,500 people have been killed since the war began, as cited by AP. Hamas' initial attack killed around 1,200 people and resulted in nearly 250 hostages being taken.

The accompanying video for "Hind's Hall" is made up of clips of people protesting and showing support for Palestinians, plus various clips of police officers and politicians. At the time of writing, it had received 29.7 million views on X, more than 122 million views on Instagram, and 824,000 views on YouTube.

Once the song is available on streaming platforms, all proceeds will go to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, a relief and human development agency for Palestinian refugees.