US Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama is not amused by a new Ludacris track, which, er, criticises the Republican Party, despite recently telling Rolling Stone that he is a fan, and the track's chorus of "The world is ready for change because Obama is here".
In 'Politics As Usual', the rapper suggests that "McCain don't belong in any chair unless he's paralyzed/Yeah, I said it cause Bush is mentally handicapped ... Hillary hated on you, so that bitch is irrelevant".
Obama's spokesman issued a statement saying: "As Barack Obama has said many, many times in the past, rap lyrics today too often perpetuate misogyny, materialism and degrading images that he doesn't want his daughters or any children exposed to. This song is not only outrageously offensive to Senator Clinton, Reverend Jackson, Senator McCain and President Bush, it is offensive to all of us who are trying to raise our children with the values we hold dear. While Ludacris is a talented individual, he should be ashamed of these lyrics".
Women's action group WomenCount is also demanding an apology from the rapper for his comment on Hillary Clinton. In a statement, the group said: "This is not an issue of being PC. This is about beginning the grinding and painful process of rooting out this kind of hate language and behaviour whenever and wherever it exists. The Democratic leadership have pledged to unhinge our nation from gender-bias, hate-language and misogyny and we are taking them at their word".