Over the last several weeks, fans of Latin music have been, in some cases, puzzled to see some of the biggest names in reggaeton publicly voice their support for former President Donald Trump's run for president.
In early September, Anuel AA and Justin Quiles met the former president during a Pennsylvania rally. Just a few weeks later, Nicky Jam joined Trump, receiving stark backlash, including from Mexican rock band Maná who pulled their collaboration from streaming services.
Reaching out to Puerto Rican stars seem to be part of Trump's strategy to reach Latino men through culture and sports. Bryan Lanza, a former Trump campaign and transition team official, told Rolling Stone that this kind engagement is “a far cry from 2016” when the Trump team “didn't do anything aimed at Spanish-language culture.”
However, many people have lambasted the reggaeton stars, who are from Puerto Rico, noting Trump's treatment of the island after Hurricane Maria. None of the artists have responded to Rolling Stone's requests for comment.
Here's everything we know about the reggaeton acts endorsing — and at least one refusing to back — Trump ahead of the 2024 election.
Anuel AA and Justin Quiles join Trump onstage at Pennsylvania rally
Puerto Rican reggaetoneros Anuel AA and Justin Quiles joined Trump onstage during a rally in Johnston, Pennsylvania on Aug. 30. The former president introduced the pair of musicians as “two amazing Puerto Rican musical legends,” but later asked the crowd, “Do you know who the hell they are?”
Anuel took the microphone and claimed he had “personally” met with the former president to talk about his policy changes to benefit the Puerto Rican community.
“Since Trump hasn't been around, it's not a secret, we've been going through a lot as a country. Biden always promised, promised. A lot of politicians promised through the years,” Anuel said on stage, calling Trump “the best president the world has seen.”
“So, all my Puerto Ricans, let's stay united. Let's vote for Trump,” Anuel continued. “He wants to keep helping Latinos in the US Let's keep doing things the right way and let's make America great again.”
Quiles also took the stage, saying he liked Trump because he's “not a puppet” and he's “the most honest president we ever had.” (Trump joked about his crowd not knowing “who the hell you are” but assured his MAGA fanatics that the musicians' presence would be “good for the Puerto Rican vote.”)
“A lot of Latinos, we stand strong next to President Trump,” Quiles claimed. “Thank you for sharing back there how important building Puerto Rico up again is, and not just Puerto Rico — let's make America great again!”
Nicky Jam endorses Trump. Trump mistakenly calls him a 'she'
Nicky Jam joined Trump onstage on Sept. 13 in Las Vegas, Nevada to endorse his run for president, even after the former president misgendered him during his introduction.
“Do you know Nicky? She's hot. Where's Nicky?” Trump said. Jam then arrived at the podium as Trump corrected his mistake: “Oh, look, I'm glad he came up.”
The Puerto Rican singer joined Trump while wearing a red “Make America Great Again” hat as he made a short speech about his endorsement. “It's an honor to meet you, Mr. President. People that come from where I come from, they don't meet the president. So I'm lucky,” said Jam. “We need you. We need you back, right? We need you to be the president.”
As the clip of Trump's confusion went viral, Jam shared a meme on Instagram playing into the fact that the former president thought he was a woman: “Nicky jam la potra la bichota,” he joked, using the Puerto Rican slang term that means “ big boss,” which female reggaeton singers like Ivy Queen and Karol G often use to describe themselves.
Maná removes Nicky Jam collab from streaming, slams musician for endorsement
Two days after Nicky Jam's public endorsement of Donald Trump, Mexican rock band Maná announced that it had pulled their collaboration with Nicky, “De Pies a Cabeza,” from the internet, citing the band's work in supporting and defending Latino rights.
“Maná doesn't work with racists,” read the statement from Fher Olvera.
In an Instagram caption, the band explained: “There is no business or promotion that is worth more than the dignity of our people. That is why today Maná decided to remove his collaboration with Nicky Jam on 'Pies a Cabeza' from all digital platforms.”
Maná have been avid supporters of Democratic causes — and have pushed for immigration reform — over the years. Olvera has also spoken out against Trump multiple times, calling him a “racist” ahead of the 2016 election.
Nicky Jam deletes Trump post
Just hours after Maná condemnation of Jam's endorsement, Nicky seemed to quietly delete his post referring to his endorsement of Trump. Before deleting it, the post had received comments from J Balvin and support from other reggaeton stars. Nicky continued posting about music and his vape company on his Instagram story, but had not addressed the controversy.
Jhayco says he won't back Trump
Jhayco was asked in a late September interview if he had gotten a call from the Trump campaign to endorse him. The Puerto Rican singer's answer was simple: “No.” When asked if he'd answer a call from the former presidency in the future, he shook his head. “No,” he said.
When asked if his decision to not endorse Trump was to avoid politics, he said he wouldn't back the former president for “many reasons.”
“I can't comment on that,” he said with a smirk. “I'm telling you as much as I can.”
