Kanye West drew tons of attention at a Chicago rally Tuesday when he showed up alongside Chance the Rapper to support local mayoral candidate Amara Enyia.
West’s Oct. 23 surprise appearance at Enyia’s “Pull Up” rally in Chicago’s Woodlawn section came a day after he wrote a $73,540 check to clear the hopeful Mayor Rahm Emanuel successor’s debt to the Illinois State Board of Elections. Enyia had owed filing fees and penalties, but now that they are settled she can get on the mayoral ballot, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
West, who announced last month he’d be going by Ye, leaned against a wall and soaked in the speeches from Enyia and Chance, according to the newspaper. He also captured some footage from his phone. After chatting some with Enyia, he whispered to his fellow Chicagoan rapper that he’s “got to bounce” and did just that a few minutes later.
As for how West got on board, Enyia told the Chicago Tribune Tuesday she had an “out of the blue” phone call with West in September that led to text messages after Chance backed her.
After clearing up the candidate’s debt issues, the pair tackled West’s overt support for President Donald Trump, whose policies don’t align with those of Enyia. For instance, she rejects many of Trump’s plans, like those on policing and immigration.
“We talked about the Trump factor, and he made it very clear that he doesn’t necessarily support Trump’s policies, some of the more controversial policies, but what he was interested in is for the ability for people to disagree and have dialogue about it,” Enyia explained. “Now, I have some very strong feelings about Trump and some specific policies coming out of the administration. He believes there always has to be room for dialogue, and people should be able to have a conversation and at least be aware of other points of view. That’s fine.”
