Remember that time when Kid Rock said he was considering running for Senate? Yes, this one. On Tuesday morning, Kid Rock, also known as Robert Ritchie, stated that he will not be running. The segment opens with Howard Stern, SiriusXM host, asking Ritchie to verify if he really was going to be the candidate to run against Debbie Stabenow, one of Michigan’s current senators. When Ritchie admits that he forgot to bring his notes to talk about on air, Stern criticizes him jokingly, telling him he’d be a “terrible politician." Many have already expressed their relief that Ritchie will not be running.
Media backlash
Crowds took to Twitter this morning to express their relief. Patricia Arquette (@pattyarquette) tweeted, “Kid Rock now says he is not running for Senate and suddenly the world looks saner then it did 1 minutes ago.” With so many celebrities deciding they want to take their turn at the political scheme, including Eminem’s recent release of a video criticizing President Trump, many people are joking about him not running for the Senate so he can run for President in 2020. The internet even considered the idea of Eminem and Kid Rock going head to head in 2020. If Kanye West is still serious, and all the internet fantasies are true, the election in 2020 may be the most hilarious election year in American history.
His support
However, he did receive quite a bit of support from, well, everywhere. “From the White House… Bannon. Everybody. This-and I’m getting letters from all over-I would say-the world,” Ritchie told Stern when asked who he knew was supporting him, referring to Steve Bannon, the former White House Strategist. Stern later informs Ritchie that he was even endorsed by the former New York Governor, George Pataki.
Ritchie was impressed but seemingly unconcerned. Stern stated that the Governor commented, “Kid Rock is the exact candidate we need running for Senate.”
The campaign
As far as publicity stunts go, this one goes a lot farther than most people would expect for a “stunt." He went so far as to launch a campaign website. On July 12th, 2017, Ritchie tweeted to his fans, “I have had a ton of emails and texts asking me if this website is real… The answer is an absolute YES.” And sure enough, the website works and even has a spot to subscribe to emails and advertises merchandise.
Its been months since the release of the website, so why drag this out for so long?
The Greatest Show on Earth Tour
Ritchie claims this is “the most creative thing [he’s] ever done." The whole charade was actually just a rumor but when his publicity team became serious, he decided to just roll with it. Although he sends his appreciation for all the support, he announced his new album, "Sweet Southern Sugar," being released on November 3rd. Then, he will begin a tour titled “The Greatest Show on Earth Tour” for his new album, which will have twenty six shows all across the United States, and two of them in Oklahoma are already sold out.
