Killer Mike faces backlash for child support, trade school proposal
Killer Mike visits SiriusXM Studios on December 11, 2023, in New York City. (Photo by Santiago Felipe/Getty Images)
ATLANTA - Killer Mike has stirred up controversy with a proposed plan to change the way child support works he believes would "strengthen" the Black community.
The Atlanta rapper proposed the idea to presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy in a video filmed at his barbershop in Atlanta.
Mike, whose given name is Michael Santiago Render, began his talk with Kennedy by saying that he was not officially endorsing his presidential campaign though he "did like a lot of what had been said."
The Grammy Award-winning rapper suggested a two-year plan where young Black fathers would spend that time going to trade school without paying for child support. Instead, the government would provide support for young mothers debt-free during that time.
"You have to go to a trade school. which incentivizes the United States to do it because we need more tradespeople," Mike said. "We don’t have enough carpenters, we don’t have enough electricians, we don’t have enough people building roads."
Mike said the change would incentivize young people to learn necessary skills and allow for more economic mobility.
"In my community, the girls are going to college and graduating," Mike said. "They have no men to marry because the boys are not going to college in the same way."
The rapper also suggested adding stipends for those who choose to get married.
Kennedy responded to the idea by jokingly asking, "Do you want to be vice president?"
The video spread on social media with some saying that his proposal is unfair to mothers and incentivizes fathers to avoid supporting their young children.