Country singer John Rich has praised former President Donald Trump for generating high viewing figures on his X interview “with no twerking.”
Rich applauded the large viewership of the Republican presidential candidate’s interview with Elon Musk on X (formerly Twitter), while seeming to take a dig at Megan Thee Stallion’s performance at a Kamala Harris rally. The rapper’s appearance, in which she twerked, has been criticized by Republicans as an attention-grabbing stunt.
“59 million views with no twerking. Mission accomplished,” Rich wrote on X. At the time of writing, his post had been viewed over 760,000 times.
Rich told Newsweek: “To be fair, I couldn’t see Elon or Trump as they were speaking, so it is in fact possible that one or both of them could have been twerking at some point.”
Megan Thee Stallion performs before Kamala Harris speaks to supporters at a rally in Atlanta, Georgia, on July 30. Republicans including Donald Trump have criticized the appearance as a means for Harris to grab attention.
Ben Hendren/Sipa via AP Images
Newsweek has emailed the Harris campaign for comment.
Fellow Trump fans responded to Rich’s comments and weighed in on the discussion.
“No twerking, no concerts, no paid listeners just two brilliant men talking about the issues,” wrote social media user Jericho.
“Policies and solutions to fix America over booty shaking for the win,” added another.
Despite Rich’s 59 million viewers figure for Trump’s interview, which was initially plagued by technical issues, final numbers have not yet been confirmed.
One X post claimed there were “73 million views” between “7:47 PM and 10:47 PM ET.” The interview was due to start at 8:00 pm ET but was delayed for 40 minutes due to the technical problems.
According to Musk, the combined views of the interview and discussion of it on other accounts took the reach to one billion.
In another X post, Rich issued a challenge to the Democratic campaign.
“Trump broke the internet. Let’s see Kamala do THAT.”
Megan Thee Stallion, and the Harris campaign by extension, have been hit by complaints after she twerked at the rally in Atlanta, Georgia, on July 30.
Trump criticized Harris for using entertainers to grab attention.
“Crazy Kamala Harris, voted the WORST Vice President in American history, needed a concert to bring people into the Atlanta arena, and they started leaving 5 minutes into her speech. I don’t need concerts or entertainers, I just have to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!,” he wrote on Truth Social.
While conservative commentator Tomi Lahren captioned a clip of the rapper at the rally: “THAT is how Kamala is going to convince Americans she is a serious candidate?”
Others argued that the suggestive dance moves were inappropriate.
Megan Thee Stallion addressed the backlash during her headline act at Lollapalooza festival in Grant Park, Chicago, on August 1.
“They was fake mad that I was popping it for Kamala. I don’t think they heard what she said,” the rapper told the crowd.
“Kamala said she wants a ceasefire. Kamala said she supports women’s rights. Kamala said y’all tired of those high…gas prices.”
