Nelly Defends His Right To Perform At Trump’s Inauguration

Nelly is proving himself to be a real St. Lunatic.

After receiving backlash for his decision to perform at Donald Trump‘s upcoming inauguration, the “Country Grammar” rapper doubled down on his controversial position. Though he’d been silent over the last few days, Nelly decided to let people know why he would be showing up for Trump on Jan 20th during a livestream with radio host Willie D.

“I’m not doing this for money. I’m doing this because it’s an honor. I respect the office. It don’t matter who is in office,” he said. “The same way our brothers and sisters go to war to put their life on the line for whoever is in office. So, if they can put their life on the line for whoever is in office, I can damn sure perform for whoever is in office.”

One thing for sure, two things for certain: when it’s time to defend coonery, the jump to compare apples and oranges is Olympic-level. Nelly went on to say that he feels he should be supported by the community despite positing himself in support of a man who regularly spouts white supremacist talking points.

“I thought you were riding for me because I put on on for my city. I didn’t know that I had to agree with your political choices,” he said.

It seems that differences in “political choices” somehow does not include the lasting implications of Trump‘s presidencies on the very communities from whom these rappers demand support. He continued,

“I thought it was the things you do (that count). Not the things you say should be done. If you follow what I do, this shouldn’t even be an argument. He’s the president. He won.”

Nelly seems to be missing the point that it’s exactly the things Trump has done that triggered the negative responses to his inauguration performance. Hopefully, fellow supporters of the 47th president plan to show up to Nellyville going forward.