PHILADELPHIA – Grammy award-winning singer, rapper and songwriter Wyclef Jean endorsed Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and predicted that former Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) would become the “most powerful senator” by partnering with Clinton if she wins.
“Like Obama said in his speech, right, I can feel the Bern. We all can feel the Bern. When I was on stage I was rocking, right? At the end of the day, every time I perform, every week, you know, my whole Bernie crew is there. You have to understand. This is not an easy thing for them,” Jean told PJM at the Democratic National Convention.
Jean had a message for Sanders’ supporters.
“I think that’s the first thing we have to understand because at the end of the day, the way that the movement was going and the idea of revolution that is not with arms – the ideology of the fact that we could shake a system up and we could get them to change,” he said. “What I want them to know is Bernie Sanders is going to go back to the Senate and he is basically going to be the most powerful senator and everything he was fighting for, this right here, partnering up with Hillary is going to give him a chance now to really get a lot of the things he was talking about hand-in-hand worked out.”
According to Rolling Stone, Jean said in 2011 that he was a “huge fan” of former Alaska Republican Gov. Sarah Palin.
However, later in 2012, Jean described himself as a “hardcore” supporter of President Obama and not a Republican.
Some political commentators have said the U.S. needs a successful businessman as president given the nation’s nearly $20 trillion national debt. PJM asked Jean if Trump’s business record would help him in managing the federal government.
“Listen, the punk don’t like the funk so he wants to build a wall and we ain’t going for that,” he responded.
Jean said he supports Clinton because she has been in public service her entire professional life.
“Last time I was there [at the DNC] was 2008. The reason why I think Hillary, let’s not say think, the reason why I know and a lot of other people understand is because ever since I was 19 years old, exactly what Hillary Clinton is doing now, that’s what she was doing, so it’s like if you really want to see what somebody is really passionate about when it comes to children, when it comes to the rights of women, when it comes to the right of somebody really speaking up for you – understanding you, working on policies, working on getting laws to pass, this is not a ‘now’ thing,” Jean said.
“This is something that she started, similar to if you really want to see what I’m about just go back to the Fugees, whether it was the Tibetan concert, if it was the Rock the Vote, it’s the passion and what you feel – and I feel the state that our country is in right now, that’s the best candidate,” he added.
Jean, who was born in Haiti, launched a campaign for president of Haiti in 2010 but election officials deemed him ineligible for not meeting the 5-year residency requirement.
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