Which 2016 US Presidential Candidates Follow Rappers On Twitter?
You may already know that Bernie Sanders and Lil B follow each other on Twitter. But which presidential candidate has the most hip hop social media cred? We went through the Twitter profiles of every current presidential candidate for the upcoming 2016 election to see who (or whose social media team) follows the most (known) rappers online, and therefore has the most street cred. Better start practicing those rap squats now, candidates.
DEMOCRATS
WHO: Lincoln Chafee
FOLLOWING: 497 FOLLOWERS: 17.5K
RAPPERS FOLLOWED BY CHAFEE: 0
WHO: Martin O’Malley
FOLLOWING: 1,996 FOLLOWERS: 77.5K
RAPPERS FOLLOWED BY O'MALLEY: 0
Sanders' Senatorial account follows Waka Flocka Flame and Tom Morello of the rap metal group Rage Against the Machine which might make Sanders the most #based candidate that's currently running. Other candidates beware: Lil B's curse ain't nothing to mess with.
WHO: Jim Webb
FOLLOWING: 5,902 FOLLOWERS:10.9K
RAPPERS FOLLOWED BY WEBB: 0
REPUBLICANS
WHO: Chris Christie
FOLLOWING: 602 FOLLOWERS: 540K followers
RAPPERS FOLLOWED BY CHRISTIE: 3: Queen Latifah, Shaq, Diddy
WHO: Carly Fiorina
FOLLOWING: 686 FOLLOWERS: 378K
RAPPERS FOLLOWED BY FIORINA: 0
WHO: Mike Huckabee
FOLLOWING: 494 FOLLOWERS: 374K
RAPPERS FOLLOWED BY HUCKABEE:0
WHO: George Pataki
FOLLOWING: 370 FOLLOWERS: 44.6K
RAPPERS FOLLOWED BY PATAKI: 0
WHO: Bobby Jindal
FOLLOWING: 20.9K FOLLOWERS: 197K
RAPPERS FOLLOWED BY JINDAL: 0
WHO: Marco Rubio
FOLLOWING: 2,855 FOLLOWERS: 763K
RAPPERS FOLLOWED BY RUBIO: 0
WHO: Donald Trump
FOLLOWING: 44 FOLLOWERS: 3.24M
RAPPERS FOLLOWED BY TRUMP: 0
WHO: John Kasich
FOLLOWING: 8,976 FOLLOWERS:74.4K
RAPPERS FOLLOWED BY KASICH: 1: Shaq.
WHO: Ted Cruz
FOLLOWING: 13.9K FOLLOWERS: 433K
RAPPERS FOLLOWED BY CRUZ: ½
WHO: Rick Perry
FOLLOWS: 29.4K FOLLOWERS: 301K
RAPPERS FOLLOWED BY PERRY: 0
WHO: Hillary Rodham Clinton
FOLLOWING: 40 FOLLOWERS: 3.88M
RAPPERS FOLLOWED BY CLINTON: 0
WHO: Bernie Sanders.
FOLLOWING: 1,893 FOLLOWERS: 453K
RAPPERS FOLLOWED BY SANDERS: 1. Lil B
← Webb does follow Micky Dolenz (Monkees) and the Rolling Stones, however, making him gleefully out of touch with younger voters.
WHO: Ben Carson
FOLLOWING: 44 FOLLOWERS: 380K
RAPPERS FOLLOWED BY CARSON: 0
← Not surprisingly, Christie also follows Bon Jovi, Bruce Springsteen and three members of the E Street Band (Stevie Van Zandt, Jake Clemons, Nils Lofgren). He has a love of ballads and show tunes if his follows @GLEEonFox, @TheMusicMan, Bette Middler, Bruno Mars and Adele are earnest.
WHO: Lindsey Graham
FOLLOWING: 2,250 FOLLOWERS: 19.9K
RAPPERS FOLLOWED BY GRAHAM: 0
WHO: Rand Paul
FOLLOWING: 380 FOLLOWERS: 646K
RAPPERS FOLLOWED BY PAUL: 0
← Curiously enough, Pataki follows eHarmony on twitter, so maybe he hasn't found the right one yet?
WHO: Rick Santorum
FOLLOWING: 1,263 FOLLOWERS: 235K
RAPPERS FOLLOWED BY SANTORUM:0
← Rubio follows @80sRockVideos, but unless they're all videos of Run DMC, we award him no points.
WHO: Scott Walker
FOLLOWING: 196 FOLLOWERS: 159K
RAPPERS FOLLOWED BY WALKER: 0
← It should also be noted that Kasich also follows @ClassicalRacist.
← Cruz follows @SouIja_BoySODMG, who is "Soulja Boy’s #1 supporter."
And there you have it. We were most shocked by that fact that RICK PERRY is the only Republican candidate who follows Ted Nugent.
This featurette was originally published on Hopes & Fears.