Trump Finally Gets an Endorsement From a Pop Culture Icon: Sri Lankan-British Rapper M.I.A.

Sri Lankan-British rapper, record producer, and singer Mathangi Arulpragasam, better known by her stage name M.I.A., has endorsed Donald Trump, following Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s decision to suspend his presidential campaign and throw his support to the former president. “Trump is going to ride America through the most challenging 4 years coming pulling out weed, and RFK will inherit America when God is ready to replant and rebuild it righteously,” Arulpragasam wrote on X, sharing a live stream of the rally.

Trump is going to ride America through the most challenging 4 years coming pulling out weed , and RFK will inherit America when God is ready to replant and rebuild it righteously. https://t.co/dVseN9rcej

— M.I.A.Ⓜ️ (@MIAuniverse) August 23, 2024

MetroUK notes M.I.A.’s comments are “a turnaround from 2017 when M.I.A criticized Trump and his administration for having ‘mental disorders.’” 

The Daily Beast reported that the 49-year-old has been “notably anti-vax,” and has made several controversial statements, “including comparing InfoWars host Alex Jones’s conspiracy theories about the Sandy Hook shooting to celebrities ‘pushing’ Covid vaccines.” In 2017, she endorsed British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn in the general election. “She also “promotes a litany of conspiracy-laden products through her brand Ohmni,” The Daily Beast said. They include “a $200 protection poncho, as well as a $100 “tin foil hat, which is a bucket hat made from ‘pure Copper Nickel shielding fabric.’”

Many of M.I.A’.s fans, however, were not happy with her decision. A user named Iri, who described the singer as a genuine artist and “a visionary,” posted on X that she “said MIA is endorsing Trump, but she’s not surprised. “She’s lost herself so deeply and now thinks that she’s created a clothing line to protect people from 5g waves.”

mia is genuinely such an artist and a visionary it’s so sad she’s endorsing trump but i’m not surprised. she’s lost herself so deeply and now thinks that she’s created a clothing line to protect people from 5g waves. rip m.i.a.

— iri (@IRIDESCENDlNG) August 25, 2024

“I love you to death M.I.A. You’re one of my all-time favorite rappers who is criminally underrated but this ain’t it,’ a user named Kenny posted on X.

i love you too death MIA. you’re one of my all time favorite rappers who is criminally underrated but this ain’t it

— kenny jones (@relientkenny) August 24, 2024

“As an immigrant who was inspired by your artistic journey, I’m very disappointed,” user Revista Okaso wrote. “That man supports Trump. That man supports stuff my family has gone through. It’s so disrespectful to us immigrants that you support him.”

As an immigrant who was inspired by your artistic journey, I'm very disappointed. That man supports Trump. That man supports stuff my family has went through. It's so disrespectful to us immigrants that you support him. I still respect you as an artist, but I'm stll disappointed.

— REVISTA OKASO (@okaso_lit) August 23, 2024

Another user, who noted that M.I.A. is “going through visa complications and a restraining order,” asked her whether she was aware that “Trump’s Project 2025 outlines eliminating legal immigration.”

How’s does this work when she’s a British citizen and Sri Lankan refugee? Additionally, M.I.A. aren’t you going through visa complications & a restraining order? You do know that Trump’s Project 2025 outlines eliminating legal immigration. https://t.co/Uu5umsYq8n pic.twitter.com/7oIgzVxlq7

— red god (@celmationart) August 25, 2024

Some users like San weren’t surprised by M.I.A. endorsing Trump, noting that it was “just a matter of time.”

M.I.A has always been a bit of a reactionary. Her "progressive" politics has kinda been a bit. Her endorsing Trump was only a matter of time honestly (especially if you have been following what she's been saying for at least 5 years). https://t.co/ghR9DdifIv

— san 🇵🇸 𓂆 (@ndsnas) August 25, 2024

M.I.A. began her career in 2000 as a visual artist, filmmaker and designer in west London before beginning her recording career in 2002. Since rising to prominence in early 2004 for her singles “Sunshowers” and “Galang,” charting in Canada and the UK and reaching number 11 on the Billboard Hot Dance Singles Sales in the U.S, she has been nominated for an Academy Award, three Grammy Awards and the Mercury Prize. Her debut album, “Arular,” was released in the U.S. in March 2005.

Her single “Paper Planes” peaked in the Top 20 worldwide and reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100. “Paper Planes” was certified gold in New Zealand and three times platinum in Canada and the US where, as of November 2011, it was ranked the seventh best-selling song by a British artist in the digital era. It has become XL Recordings’ second best-selling single to date. She was awarded the MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2019 Queen’s Birthday Honours List for her services to music.

Born in London, M.I.A. moved with her family to Sri Lanka when she was six months old. She was raised there. Her father, Arul Pragasam, was a Tamil activist and revolutionary in Jaffna and had a part in forming the group Eelam Revolutionary.  She eventually returned to London, where she and her family were housed as refugees.

M.I.A., performed at the Grammy Awards on Feb. 8, 2009, although it was the day she was due to give birth to her first child, Ikhyd Edgar Arular Bronfman, with now ex-fiancé Benjamin Bronfman, a billionaire environmentalist. Before that, she was in a five-year relationship with Diplo, the Mississippi-born DJ originally named Wesley Pentz. She tracked him down and met him after hearing his single, “News Flash”, and loving it, according to his IMDb biography. 

(Top photo, courtesy of the artist Daniel Sannwald)