"He's not thinking about the aftermath that will come"— Internet reacts as Nelly defends his decision to perform at Trump's inauguration

Nelly, aka Cornell Iral Haynes Jr., has recently responded to the backlash surrounding his decision to perform at Donald Trump's inauguration ceremony on January 20, 2025. The rapper appeared for an interview on Willie D Live on YouTube on Saturday, January 18, and said:

"It is an honor for me to perform for the president of the United States, regardless of who is in office."

He said he would have done the same for anyone else, including Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

"I respect the office. This isn't politics. The politics, for me, it's over. He won. He's the president. He's the commander-in-chief of what I would like to say is the best country in the world."

Soon after Nelly's comments, netizens shared their opinions. Under The Art of Dialogue's tweet on the rapper's statement, one person recalled the criticism singer Chrisette Michele faced for her decision to perform at the ceremony and said:

"He's not thinking about the aftermath that will come from this… Chrisette still hasn't come back from that."

His fans were spotted supporting him below the post, with some saying that they respect his comments about the office.

"I respect the office. It doesn't matter who is in the office…" – Nelly. That's how we should all approach it. That's actually biblical", a user wrote on X.

"I didn't think about this perspective, but I respect it, and it makes sense", another netizen wrote on X.

"Awesome response, Nelly! Just became a fan", one of the reactions reads.

However, people continued criticizing Cornell, with one saying that he made a "tone-deaf decision." This was followed by another, writing that it was better for Cornell to not reply to the criticism.

"Nelly go away, bruh. This was just a very tone deaf decision, regardless of how you spin it. Period", an X user stated.

"This is not a goood look bruh. You did better not saying anything", an X reaction mentioned.

"Idk if he's wrong for doing it, but he's wrong about one thing, the person in the office does matter", a netizen commented.

---

Nelly said his fans should not judge him based on one performance

During his conversation with Willie D Live, Cornell clarified that he was not doing the ceremony performance for money, adding that there is a lot of difference between "performing for somebody and voting for somebody." He said he was not attempting to send a message to everyone to go and vote for someone.

"This is not a campaign trail. This is not me telling you, 'Yo, you should vote for this candidate.' I think you should do your homework and figure out what best helps you and the people who you love and you provide for because I'm clueless on a lot of things when it gets down to it."

Nelly said that most of his family members have served in the US military and that if they can give their lives for the office, he can also perform at the ceremony. He addressed those who criticized him for his decision, claiming that he was unaware they were expecting him to support the person they voted for.

"I didn't know that I had to agree with your political choices. If you follow what I do, this shouldn't even be an argument."

The Austin, Texas native has not released any new studio album in about four years. His last major project was Heartland, which came out in 2021 and reached the top of the US Billboard 200 and other charts.