Kanye West’s bold support of President Donald Trump is one of the subjects the “free-thinking” rapper can’t seem to stop discussing. But when radio host Charlamagne Tha God asked him about the Commander-in-Cheif’s oppressive policies, he was left speechless.
“You know my dad is an activist,” Ye tells Charlamagne during an extensive interview at his Calabasas, Calif., home April 18. “And my mom [the late Donda West was an] activist. We was in marches and I feel … that energy all coming to a head now.”
“I refuse to believe your mother would love Donald Trump,” Charlamagne says.
“I can have a difference of opinion from my mom,” West says after a brief pause.
But when asked about Trump marginalizing and oppressing Black people, Ye, was effectively left speechless.
After a long pause, Ye said “I don’t have all the answers that a celebrity’s supposed to have,” he finally responds. “But I can tell you that when he was running, I felt something. … The fact that he won, it proves something. It proves that anything can be possible in America. That Donald Trump could be president in America. I’m not talking about what he’s done since he’s been in office, but the fact that he was able to do it.
“I felt the nonconventional,” he continues. “Even from what we doin’ in fashion, to me being the kid with the pink polos, to me being outspoken, to me being ostracized, ’cause of the Taylor Swift thing, the George Bush thing, or who I’m dating, who I’m marrying, what I’m talkin’ about. All of this is like an outsider thing. So when I see an outsider infiltrate, I connect with that.”
Meanwhile, several Twitter remarked on Ye’s silence and his reasoning behind backing Trump.
“Just watched @cthagod ask Kanye the same thing @TIP asked him about what specifically he liked about Donald Trump,” tweeted journalist Shaun King. “Kanye was completely unable to name even a single policy. He seemed genuinely stumped. Then said he just liked how Trump surprised everybody by winning. Empty.”
“@kanyewest why were you silent in the @cthagod interview?” someone tweeted.
“Kanye clearly said he don’t support Trump’s policies,” one person said. “He only likes Trump’s success in ‘infiltrating’ the White House as a political outsider. He has already said that he is not a Conservative and to not label him as such. It’s very clear to see all of this.”
