Rapper Fat Joe has received backlash on social media after announcing that he owns a pair of golden high-tops from former President Donald Trump’s panned sneaker brand.
The Bronx, New York, native showed off one of the shoes in an Instagram Live video that was later posted to his account Monday. The “Lean Back” rapper defended his decision to obtain the shoes, saying that he only did so because he is a sneaker collector.
“Me, as a sneaker collector, I had to get my hand on the Trumps,” he said in the video, comparing sneaker collectors to art collectors who may not support or be aware of an artist’s politics.
“Listen, I have thousands and thousands and thousands of sneakers,” he said, before someone off camera held a Trump-branded shoe box in front of Fat Joe’s face.
The rapper, born Joseph Antonio Cartagena, said in the Instagram Live video that despite having the shoes, he’s a “die-hard Democrat” and not a fan of Trump.
“I’m not a Trumper, I dislike Trump, I’m not voting for him — not now, not never,” said Fat Joe, who then held one of the sneakers up to the camera. “But I’m a sneaker collector into the art, so I had to find these.”
The rapper later insisted that he didn’t pay for the shoes, saying that he was given a pair because he’s “the biggest in the game.”
Fat Joe has previously voiced his support for Democrats Joe Biden and Barack Obama.
Prior to Trump’s election in 2016, he told MSNBC that the country “can’t have that guy in office.”
A representative for Fat Joe did not immediately return a request for comment.
People on X, formerly Twitter, criticized the Bronx rapper this week, with some accusing him of “promoting” the shoes linked to Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential ticket.
“We know he a sneaker head but he didn’t have to promote them,” one X user wrote, adding that “he could have put them away in silence.”
Meanwhile, an Instagram user suggested under Fat Joe’s post that the Bronx native was essentially supporting Trump’s campaign as it seeks to attract voters of color.
“Don’t support his campaign!!! So you can collect a freakin sneaker???” the Instagram user wrote. “So dumb. It literally the dumb shit they think about us. And you proved it true. #disappointed.”
Trump launched the golden sneakers, named “The Never Surrender High-Tops,” for $399 — a day after a judge in New York found that he lied about his wealth for years. He was ordered to pay $355 million in penalties in the civil fraud verdict.
The former president publicly unveiled the shoes at Sneaker Con in Philadelphia earlier this month.
Despite Trump promoting the shoes, a website selling the sneakers says in small print that they “are not designed, manufactured, distributed or sold by Donald J. Trump, the Trump Organization or any of their respective affiliates or principals.”
Trump’s shiny shoes were mocked on “Saturday Night Live” last weekend. Host Shane Gillis acted as a man who gains the ability to make people believe his shameless lies after he is gifted the Trump-branded sneakers. (Check out the full “SNL” sketch below.)