On Tuesday, President Donald Trump called out Jay-Z during a rally in Tennessee.
The president took issue with the hip-hop star’s language during a 2016 performance at a Cleveland event for then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton days before the election.
“His language was so filthy that it made me like the most clean-cut human being on earth,” Trump said, bringing attention to his own reputation for also using foul, unpresidential language.
According to the New York Daily News report of the November event, Jay-Z “repeatedly cursed on stage, including during his performances of ‘F**kWithMeYouKnowIGotIt’ and ‘Jigga My N***a.’”
Jay-Z has consistently criticised the president for his policies. So it’s not clear why Trump chose this particular moment to criticize him. The president also boasted that he could easily fill a much bigger arena than Jay-Z.
“He’d stand up there before those crowds — and by the way, without any musical instruments, I had much bigger crowds than he was drawing — but he’d stand up before those crowds and he’d use the F-word,” he said.
Trump also called out Jay-Z for his language the day after that November 2016 event
“He used every word in the book last night,” Trump said. “He used language last night that was so bad and then Hillary said, ‘I did not like Donald Trump’s lewd language.’ My lewd language. I tell you what, I’ve never said what he said in my life.”