On Thursday morning, likely Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush met rapper, techie, and movie star star Ludacris at the Georgia Capitol.
Bush was there for his non-campaign presidential campaigning, and Ludacris (born Christopher Brian Bridges) was busy being formally recognized by the Georgia House for his philanthropic efforts through The Ludacris Foundation.
“I just came to see Ludacris,” Bush joked. “I appreciate that there’s a successful guy who’s giving back.”The rapper’s foundation has donated over $1.5 million to youth programs in Atlanta, Georgia, and invested thousands of hours in community service in youth programs.
“Since 2001, The Ludacris Foundation has been helping youth help themselves and has invested more than 10,000 hours in devoted service to youth across the nation,” the foundation says. Even the famously anti-hip-hop Bill O’Reilly was compelled to donate money to The Ludacris Foundation.
Here’s footage of the recording artist surprising students at a “Get Connected” event:
And here is the resolution by the Georgia House of Representatives recognizing Ludacris’s “many accomplishments and his service to his community”:
It is unclear how much Ludacris’s views on Common Core line up with Jeb’s, for instance. However, it is unlikely that the two see eye-to-eye on very many political issues of the day. Ludacris has been a huge Obama supporter, even going as far as to record a viciously anti-Hillary, anti-McCain, anti-George W. Bush rap that was condemned in 2008 by the Obama campaign. Still, it seems like Luda’s heart is in the right place—and you could even say that he harbors a vaguely conservative skepticism of the ability of our government institutions to solve social problems.
“Not everyone believes that tomorrow can be better than today, or that the promise is even meant for them at all,” he said at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, in 2009. “Now, it’s not right with all of our resources, every citizen is not afforded the opportunities to be the best that they can be if they want…Our communities need fixing. Our systems are badly broken. We can’t wait on the government, the institutions, social programming, and policies alone to fix our communities. We have to look at other sources, and that’s why I’m here today.”
If Jeb wins, will Luda be on the shortlist to lead Housing and Urban Development?