Megan Thee Stallion Stans Are Salty Over Their Choice of Candidates

This story is part of the KQED series The Fandom Vote, exploring the election-year concerns and voting preferences of significant pop culture fanbases.

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egan Thee Stallion fans from the Bay Area and beyond flocked to San Francisco’s Chase Center on June 23 for the rapper’s Hot Girl Summer Tour.

As anticipation filled the air outside the arena, we talked with Megan Thee Stallion fans, known as Hotties, about what they admire about the rap star — and, evidently, what they do not admire about the candidates in the 2024 Presidential Election.

Emma Gray, who lives near Stockton, came to see Megan Thee Stallion with her fiancé, Abby Nation. “It’s very disappointing that I don’t feel there is a candidate that I can trust to end genocide,” Gray said. “I would vote for a third party, [even if] I know it’s probably not going to result in that person being elected,” she explained. “But I’m also not going to put my vote to someone who is causing so much harm.”

“For me, the most important thing is to free Palestine,” echoed Lauryn Major, who showed up to the concert with three of her friends. “That’s the only thing that I’m voting on this year.”

Adding to Major’s comment, her friend Jasmine Cannon listed some of her priorities: “Ceasefire, reproductive rights, voting access, education, funding libraries, decriminalizing weed and other nonviolent crimes.”

Christian, who declined to give her last name, flew in for the show from Arkansas. She said she “doesn’t really like either of [the candidates], but Biden is better.” Still, she’s upset by Biden’s continued support of Israel and “sending money to help kill other people […] when we should be helping our citizens.”

Kierunya Davis flew in from Compton bearing gifts for Megan Thee Stallion, who later accepted them on stage. “White men do not speak for the majority,” Davis said. “We deserve better as brown and black people — for somebody to actually make promises and follow through.”

Self-identified Hottie Alex Cruz said she’s anxious about the election, “especially with Roe v. Wade recently being overturned.” She said it’s “disappointing that Biden hasn’t been able to do more” regarding reproductive rights and immigration reform, but clarified that she is “probably just going to end up voting for him anyway.”

Mia Williams, from Seattle, also traveled hundreds of miles to see Megan Thee Stallion. “She stands up for body positivity and she helped push female rap to where it is,” Williams said.

When asked about the election, Williams was less hopeful. “I feel like regardless, it’s a bad choice,” she said. “I don’t know how [Joe Biden] could do another four years,” she said, “and [Donald Trump] is just a bigot.” She continued, “Also, he’s a felon now, so I don’t think a felon should be a president.”

Mourice Grey and Karl Daniels both live in San Leandro, and cited rent control, women’s rights and queer rights as their top concerns this year. “[Trump] broke the law, so he should not get the opportunity,” Daniels noted.

Decked out in Sailor Mars cosplay, Ayah Benjamin said she “hasn’t made a decision yet” on whether she will vote this year. “Capitalism and being a young person in society is genuinely exhausting,” she expressed with frustration. “Civil rights, humanitarian issues and obviously the genocides globally” are her primary concerns in this election.

The Megan Thee Stallion show at the Chase Center was Destiny Phan’s first concert. This year’s election will mark another first, as she’s finally old enough to vote. Phan said it’s been “hard to keep up” with politics this year.

Tourean Barnes was there to attend the concert with his nephew Javonte Barnes. “My main issue would be the stability of our democracy,” said Tourean, adding that the two front-running candidates are “more like entertainers than presidents.”