WEST WHIRLED
Kanye stirs up storm with love for ‘brother’ Trump
Kanye West went trolling on Wednesday, posting a volley of tweets professing his love for President Trump and calling him his “brother” because they share “dragon energy.”
Never one to shy away from flattery, the President returned the favor by retweeting the “Gold Digger” singer.
“Thank you Kanye, Very cool!” Trump posted. He also retweeted the rapper’s photo of a signed “Make America Great Again” hat.
Yeezy, 40, who has a new album coming out – his first since 2016 – framed his Twitter thread as a call for political tolerance.
“You don’t have to agree with trump but the mob can’t make me not love him,” he posted. “We are both dragon energy. He is my brother. I love everyone. I don’t agree with everything anyone does. That’s what makes us individuals. And we have the right to independent thought.”
The tweet got 17,000 responses, some supportive, but the majority of them not. Some called him an “idiot” or a “sellout,” and compared him to the hypnotized protagonist of the racially aware horror movie “Get Out.”
West needled his fans and haters further with a tweet attacking President Barack Obama’s response to gun violence in Chicago. “Obama was in office for eight years and nothing in Chicago changed,” he said.
West shared two photos of his red “MAGA” hat. One shows Trump’s signature on the brim. The other shows the rapper wearing the cap as he poses with (inset, left to right) Universal Music Group CEO Lucian Grainge and YouTube’s head of music Lyor Cohen.
The rapper’s wife, reality star Kim Kardashian, intervened at one point, asking him to clarify his stance on the President.
“My wife just called and she wanted me to make this clear to everyone,” he tweeted. “I don’t agree with everything Trump does. I don’t agree 100% with anyone but myself.”
Kardashian also jumped in to defend her hubby, tweeting, “To the media trying to demonize my husband let me just say this...your commentary on Kanye being erratic & his tweets being disturbing is actually scary,” she tweeted. “So quick to label him as having mental health issues for just being himself when he has always been expressive is not fair.”
The millionaire vocalist, who met with Trump at Trump Tower in December 2016 during the President’s transition to power, then backpedaled slightly.
“If your friend jumps off the bridge you don’t have to do the same. Ye being Ye is a fight for you to be you. For people in my life the idea of Trump is pretty much split but I don’t tell a Hillary supporter not to support Hillary. I love Hillary too,” he wrote.