Jelly Roll Met Donald Trump + Fans Have Strong Feelings About It

Jelly Roll‘s wrestling fandom is well documented, so it’s not a huge surprise that he was in the crowd during the UFC matchup between Jon “Bones” Jones and Stipe Miocic that took place at New York City’s Madison Square Garden on Saturday night (Nov. 16).

What is a little surprising, though, is just how many celebrity guests were in attendance at that fight — including U.S. president-elect Donald Trump.

Trump walked out to the venue flanked by a roundup of his cabinet picks, as well as billionaires and stars from the political, business and entertainment world, including Kid Rock.

During the event, Trump and Jelly crossed paths. Video of the moment shows them shaking hands and leaning in for a conversation. Trump’s back is turned to the camera, but you can clearly see a broad smile across Jelly’s face.

Kid Rock leans in to join the meeting, too — and at one point, Jelly turns to his fellow singer and claps him on the shoulder.

After video of the moment appeared on social media, fans were quick to offer their thoughts — and many seemed surprised that Jelly would greet Trump with enthusiasm, since they assumed the singer was pulling for his political rival, Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.

“This is a guy who has been railing for years about the opioid crisis,” one response reads in part. “… He’s a lib, but he’s one of the good ones.”

“Jelly Role [sic] can sit his a– down,” another disapprovingly opines.

“Yeah funny since he couldn’t handle being on X as it was ‘toxic’ for him,” one user adds, referring to a late-October post in which Jelly vowed to leave the social media platform due to some negative posts and interactions he’d seen on the app. (The singer has since said that he wishes he’d reacted differently when he made that post.)

READ MORE: Jelly Roll Was Accused of Satanism — Here’s How He Responded

But other fans seemed to approve of Jelly’s positive interaction with Trump.

“Seeing him at the UFC fights feels like a refreshing reminder of how people can engage with one another respectfully, regardless of politics or celebrity status,” one person writes. “It’s a glimpse of normalcy in a world that often feels divided.”

“Jelly is a good person all around who doesn’t get into politics,” another points out. “He would greet Biden with the same smile and warmth.”

What Has Jelly Roll Said About His Political Beliefs?

• Despite what many who say the video of Jelly meeting Trump seemed to think, the star never endorsed Kamala Harris.
• He has never explicitly expressed an affiliation with either the Democrat or Republican party.
• The month before the 2024 U.S. presidential election, Jelly told Rolling Stone that he wouldn’t be in the business of endorsing candidates, especially because he himself lost the right to vote at 16 years old when he was sentenced on a felony charge for armed robbery. “You want me to tell people to vote for a system that won’t let me vote? F–king c’mon now,” Jelly said at the time.
• In a 2020 Facebook post, Jelly said he intentionally stays out of negative-focused political discourse, saying, “You’ll never hear me in any of those arguments.”