Eminem introduces Obama at Detroit Kamala Harris Rally

Photo: DOMINIC GWINN/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty

I don't know how stressed you are feeling about the upcoming election, but one person who is still in great spirits is Barack Obama. On Tuesday, the former president arrived at a Harris Walz rally in Detroit to give a speech that began with a confident a cappella performance of Eminem's “Lose Yourself.”

To be fair, Obama was somewhat prepared to do this – and he was introduced by Eminem himself and moved on to the actual title of “Lose Yourself”. “I've done a lot of rallies,” he began as he stood on the podium, looking extremely relaxed, “so I don't usually get nervous. But I felt like I was kind of following Eminem. Now I notice my palms are sweaty-” he paused to make it clear to the crowd what he was planning on–“knees are weak, arms are heavy… I've already puked on my sweater, mom's spaghetti.”

By this point, Obama had gathered the passion of 1,000 college ciphers to deliver a few more lines: “I'm nervous, but on the surface I look calm and ready to drop bombs, but I keep forgetting—” then he paused paused to sing a small part of the song's beat before joking: “I thought Eminem was going to perform and I was going to jump out. Love me some Eminem.” I think he and the entire audience would have really loved that performance.

Obama was clearly feeling the Slim Shady spirit and also seemed to enjoy making a series of quips to his favorite roast, Donald Trump, as his speech continued. “I heard there was another rally here Friday night, but it was a little smaller than this one,” he said, referring to a Trump rally a few days earlier where Trump claimed Obama was “exhausted.” worked. Obama dragged out everything from Trump's merch (“He says it's made in Switzerland, but who really knows”) to his speeches (“Word salad; you don't know what the hell he's saying”) to the fact that he described the January 6th uprising as “a day of love”. It sounded like Woodstock. It sounded like Coachella.”

He also attended the recent town hall in Philadelphia, where Trump was filmed silently nodding to music for half an hour earlier this month. “He just sways to 'Ave Maria' and 'YMCA,'” Obama said. “Now I would say our playlist might be better,” he said, drawing cheers. “I would have 'Lose Yourself' on it.” He would definitely do that! Do you think he would perform it himself?