When Hillary Clinton used a Pusha T meet-and-greet contest to encourage voter registration, Twitter users were left scratching their heads. Yes, the G.O.O.D. music president had shown his support for Clinton throughout the race, but his creative persona and work didn’t exactly scream “political champion.” Many were critical of the Democratic presidential nominee’s choice, while others thought it was nothing short of hilarious; however, it appears the move was actually pretty smart.
Karen Civil, the hip-hop insider who worked on Clinton’s marketing campaign, explained how the meet-and-greet contest boosted the candidate’s support as well as voter registration.
“I remember when [Clinton] put out that tweet, she got so much flack […] she put out ‘Win tickets to a Pusha T concert when you register to vote [on her website],’” Civil explained during an interview on The Breakfast Club. “So many people were so mad, like, ‘Why is she tweeting about Pusha T?’ But what people don’t know is over 30,000 people registered to vote off of that tweet.”
That’s a pretty notable figure, but even Charlamagne Tha God wondered how Clinton was convinced to partner with the reformed drug dealer. Civil explained Pusha was no stranger to the White House (he’s worked with President Barack Obama on the My Brother’s Keeper initiative) and he has, therefore, been vetted by government officials. But more than anything, Civil said she wanted to work with Pusha because of his support of prison reform.
“He understands the system, having people in there, and what needs to be done moving forward,” she explained. “Pusha is somebody who is very passionate, he’s educated […] so it made sense to use him […] I’m glad I did it, Pusha’s glad he did it. Coming out of it, so many people were registered to vote for the first time, and we got a lot of engagement off of it.”
