On Oct. 16, 2023, the rapper Waka Flocka Flame, whose real name is Juaquin James Malphurs, posted an endorsement of former U.S. President Donald Trump's 2024 presidential campaign on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), writing: "TRUMP2024."
Within hours of Waka Flocka's post, the Trump campaign's official account on X highlighted the endorsement with the below-displayed post featuring a composite image of the rapper and former president.
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) October 16, 2023
The October 2023 post was not the first time Waka Flocka expressed support for Trump. In April 2021, the rapper announced that he had received a commendation certificate from Trump, apparently issued before Democratic rival Joe Biden took over the Oval Office on Jan. 20, 2021, in honor of the rapper's “lifelong commitment to building a stronger nation through volunteer service.” While sharing the news on Instagram, the rapper said, "S/O [shout out] to my President," in reference to Trump.
Waka Flocka's view of Trump has not always been positive. During Trump's first campaign for president, as well as in the early years of his presidency, Waka Flocka was critical — even hostile — to Trump, as reported by New Musical Express (NME):
The rapper attracted attention last year when he said he believed Trump was a better president than Barack Obama.
But it’s not clear whether Waka is an avowed supporter – in 2015, he responded negatively to Trump’s racist campaign statement that Mexicans crossing the border into the US were “bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime. They’re rapists and some, I assume, are good people, but I speak to border guards and they’re telling us what we’re getting”.
“I wonder how many hardworking Mexicans built those #trumptowers #patheticman!!!,” the rapper tweeted at the time.
In 2015, Waka Flocka tweeted, "Fuck Donald J. Trump." About two years later, in 2017, someone threw the rapper a Trump jersey while he was on stage, and he then pretended to use the piece of clothing to wipe his butt.
However, as of this writing in October 2023, Flocka's "TRUMP2024" tweet not only remained visible publicly, but it was also pinned to the top of his profile. A photo (of uncertain authenticity) of the rapper appearing to stand next to Trump served was set as rapper's profile picture after he posted his support for Trump.
The following day, Waka Flocka posted on X saying that he was "not a politician" and that he did not want to "talk politics."
Because, however, Waka Flocka genuinely posted "TRUMP2024" to show his support for the former president's 2024 presidential campaign, we rated this claim True.