Kanye West declares his support for US president-elect Donald Trump, admitting to fans during his Saint Pablo Tour show in San Jose that he “would have voted” for Trump. Read more below.
The rapper, designer, and self-proclaimed “genius” made the shocking announcement at his Saint Pablo Tour show in San Jose on Thursday; reportedly telling the crowd that he liked the Republican’s “politically incorrect” way of communicating. “I told you I didn’t vote,” West admitted. “But if I voted, I would have voted on Trump.”
There was a mixed reaction from the SAP Centre crowd, with many booing the rapper’s choice. After all, Trump’s campaign – while undoubtedly “politically incorrect” – was also awash with extreme right-wing, misogynistic and racist rhetoric.
“Rappers are philosophers of our now,” West added. “Celebrities are the influencers of our now, just look at the president, he wasn’t in politics and won.”
The announcement was very unexpected given West’s inconsistent history with politics. In 2015, the rapper donated $2,700 to Hillary Clinton’s campaign, and has previously given $15,000 to the Democratic National Committee. A year later, he also expressed strong support for Republican candidate Ben Carson, calling the anti-choice Islamophobe the “most brilliant guy” and “extremely impressive”.
Kanye West also reconfirms his plans to run for president in 2020 during the San Jose show, according to tweets from fans. However, given all the mixed messages, it’s still not clear which party he would definitely run for. “I don’t wanna put words in his mouth, but I’m pretty sure the Democrats,” Kim Kardashian speculated in an interview with Wonderland back in September. “Maybe independent? I don’t know how serious he is about it. We’ll see…”
