Political newcomer Vivek Ramaswamy dropped an impromptu performance of Eminem’s 2002 hit “Lose Yourself” at a campaign stop during the Iowa State Fair — and Eminem is not happy about it.

The rapper has sent a cease and desist order to Ramaswamy’s lawyer, demanding that Ramaswamy stop using his music on the campaign trail.

Ramaswamy is taking the issue with a light heart.

“I just want the real Slim Shady to stand up,” Ramaswamy jokes to Jason Whitlock, “because I can’t believe that he just said what I think he did.”

“He was the insurgent man. He was the guy who stood up to the establishment,” he adds, noting that Eminem's lyrics reflected views that don’t represent how the rapper acts now.

“This irreverent guy, who I looked up to growing up, has now become part of, sort of the new woke establishment,” Vivek says. “But that’s all right. I still have high hopes that he’s going to grow out of it and become the real Slim Shady again.”

While Eminem wasn’t a fan of the presidential hopeful rapping his song on the campaign trail, Whitlock actually was.

“There were people at the time, ‘This is unpresidential,’ and I was like, 'Nah, man, we’re well past that.' I just want Vivek to be authentic, and as a guy in his mid-30s, this is pretty authentic,” Whitlock tells Ramaswamy.

Ramaswamy believes Eminem’s problem with his performance goes deeper than just his politics.

“There’s this culture of fear across the country,” Ramaswamy says. “There’s what people will say in private and what people will say in public. And there’s a gap.”

“The best measure of the health of American democracy,” he explains, is “the percentage of people who feel free to say what they actually think in public. Right now, we’re doing poorly.”

This is why Vivek used to look up to Eminem.

“I loved heterodox figures like Eminem,” he says. “They stand up to the establishment. But at a certain point, you become a part of the establishment.”

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