Kid Rock had surprising view on Barack Obama before becoming MAGA poster boy

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Before he was the poster boy for Donald Trump’s MAGA movement, lifelong Republican Kid Rock surprisingly had only positive things to say about former President Barack Obama.

The 55-year-old rap-rock performer, real name Robert James Ritchie, has recently aligned himself with Trump, making multiple public appearances endorsing the controversial president, including performing during the 79-year-old’s second inauguration in January 2025 and headlining Turning Point USA’s alternative Super Bowl Halftime show this year.

However, his controversial past has recently resurfaced while his upcoming MAGA festival is ‘as good as bankrupt’ after a show cancellation.

Despite his loyalty to Trump, Kid Rock previously praised Obama after him and his son, Bobby Jr., met the former President and First Lady in 2009.

The Bawitdaba singer described the encounter on Bill Maher’s Club Random podcast in 2022. “I always said, man, I wanna hang out with Obama and drink beer. There’s not a cooler [president out of] all the presidents … from Jimmy Carter up,” he began.

Kid Rock has praised President Barack Obama int he past (Image: AFP/Getty Images)

After being shut out from attending an event for former President George W. Bush, whom he publicly endorsed, Kid Rock agreed to perform at MTV’s ‘Be the Change’ Youth Ball celebrating Obama’s first inauguration alongside Kanye West and Fall Out Boy.

“When MTV calls, like, ‘Hey, would play [with] Barack?’ I’m like, ‘Of course I would. Can I bring my son?’ My son’s mixed. Now, [Obama] was a big deal – a big deal for me, too. I’m like, f—-n’, I hope this motherf—-r gets it right ’cause I didn’t vote for him.”

Kid Rock’s son, Robert James Ritchie Jr., who is half Black, was born in 1993 and raised by the musician as a single parent. The Detroit native remembered being invited to meet Barack and Michelle after the performance, but being told by the Secret Service that his teenage son could not come along.

Kid Rock has openly supported Donald Trump (Image: Getty)

He recalled that the First Lady “looked beautiful,” and praised the President, saying, “Barack is as cool as a cucumber in a bowl of hot sauce.” He continued, “I got my son sittin’ out the door who’s mixed. His mother’s Black. I’m like, ‘Kinda a big deal, you know, if you’d like to say hi to him for a second or whatever’”

Obama agreed to meet his son, which the recording artist remembered as “very special.”

After endorsing George W. Bush, Kid Rock told Metro that he would support Obama’s presidency. “It’s a great thing for Black people,” he said at the time. “Black people were kind to me growing up and taught me hip-hop and the blues, so it’s good the US has proved it’s not as racist as it’s sometimes portrayed.”

Kid Rock later endorsed Republican candidate Mitt Romney during Obama’s reelection run, even performing during a campaign for the former U.S. Senator.

At the time, he said, “It’s tough to stand up for something you believe in, especially in my business. It’s very easy to alienate a lot of fans and people, but if you don’t stand for something, you stand for nothing.”

The country rocker has since become a fierce MAGA loyalist, publicly endorsing Donald Trump and even appearing in a bizarre MAHA campaign with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

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