Explaining why he supports President Donald Trump, rapper Kanye West said that Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign did not resonate with him as a man and that "there was something" about donning a "Make America Great Again," or MAGA, hat "that made me feel like Superman."
West added that Trump is on a "hero's journey."
"Let's stop worrying about the future, all we have is today," West said, a nod to his own presidential ambitions. "Trump is on his hero's journey right now. He might not have thought he'd have a crazy mother-f***r like me [supporting him]."
West's appearance, an already contentious one during which he delivered an often rambling soliloquy praising the president, was savaged by critics.
Political commentator S.E. Cupp observed that West, whose mental health punctuated by erratic behavior has often come under scrutiny, was "clearly not okay," and wanly stated that the president is "willing to exploit" West's condition for personal gain.
Others also weighed in.
There were many other comments West made which left political commentators and members of the public alike scratching their heads in disbelief (psychologists have suggested he suffers from bipolar disorder):
- ON TRUMP: “This is our president, he has to be the freshest, the flyest, the flyest planes, the best factories and we have to make our core be in power.”
- ON THE THIRTEENTH AMENDMENT, WHICH FORBIDS SLAVERY: “Why would you keep something around that’s a trap door? If you’re building a floor, the Constitution is the base of our industry, of our country, of our company. Would you build a trap door that if you mess up and accidentally something happens, you fall and you end up next to the Unabomber? You got to remove all that trap door out of the relationship.”
- ON THE UNIVERSE: “I think the way the universe works is perfect. We don’t have 13 floors, do we?”
- ON LIBERALS: “One of the moves I love that liberals try to do ― a liberal would try to control a black person with the concept of racism because they know we are a very proud, emotional people.”
"He's been a terrific guy," Trump told reporters of West. "You know, he loves what we're doing for African-American jobs, for so many different things. Median income, as you see, at an all-time high. Poverty level at the best rate -- meaning the lowest rate so far. And Kanye is a smart guy. And he sees that."
West earned a certain infamy after he criticized then-President George W. Bush’s response to Hurricane Katrina and the government’s failure to help victims of the disaster, saying, “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.”
The irony is, of course, that West is praising a president who is currently being criticized for his decision to host rallies around the country hours after Hurricane Michael made landfall, decimating communities in the Florida Panhandle.
West’s evolution from an active member of the left to Trump supporter has been well-documented, and he has raised more than a few eyebrows for his defense of some of the president’s incendiary comments, including back in January, when Trump sparked controversy after he referred to Haiti and African nations as “shithole countries.”
“You don’t have to agree with trump but the mob can’t make me not love him,” West wrote in the spring, before claiming that he and Trump “are both dragon energy,” a statement that has made him an object of mockery more than once.
Earlier this month. Trump came to West's defense after West came under fire for his decision to deliver a pro-Trump speech on Saturday Night Live‘s season opener.
The president slammed SNL as “just a political ad” for Democrats but praised West, who donned a “Make America Great Again Hat,” as someone who is “leading the charge!”
West's impromptu monologue came after he’d performed three songs. It never made it on the air.
“I wanna cry right now. Black man in America, you’re supposed to keep what you feel inside right now,” he said. “And the liberals bully you and tell you what you can and cannot wear, where you and they can’t not stare. And they look at me and say, ‘It’s not fair. How the hell did you get here?’ Well…”
Audience members booed as West put on his MAGA hat.
“Actually, blacks weren’t always Democrats,” he started. “It’s like a plan they did to take the fathers out the homes and promote welfare. Does anybody know about that? That’s the Democratic plan.”
Saying people can’t be controlled by “monolithic thought,” West pivoted to talking about comedian Bill Cosby, who last week received a prison sentence related to charges of sexual assault. “You can’t always have when you have a black subject matter like Cosby that you have to have a black comedian talk about it,” he said.
“It’s so many times that I talk to a white person about this, and they say, ‘How could you support Trump? He’s racist.’ Well if I was concerned about racism, I would have moved out of America a long time ago. We don’t just make our decisions off of racism. I’ma break it down to you right now: If someone inspires me and I connect with them, I don’t have to believe in all they policies.”
