Kanye West has spoken out on Twitter to address recent claims that he “loves” Donald Trump – with the President registering his approval of West’s subsequent tweets.
Today (April 25), Kanye referred to Trump on Twitter as “my brother”, and said that the two share “dragon energy”.
You don't have to agree with trump but the mob can't make me not love him. 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.
— ye (@kanyewest) April 25, 2018
After appearing to clarify that he does indeed “love” Trump, Kanye then said that he also “loved” the President’s opponent in the 2016 election, Hillary Clinton, and that he wasn’t “a Democrat or a Republican”.
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 a 50 50 split but I don't tell a Hillary supporter not to support Hillary
I love Hillary too.— ye (@kanyewest) April 25, 2018
I love when people have their own ideas. You don't have to be allowed anymore. Just be.
Love who you want to love. That's free thought. I'm not even political. I'm not a democrat or a republican
— ye (@kanyewest) April 25, 2018
Following that string of tweets, West then revealed that his wife, Kim Kardashian West, had called him after reading his posts and wanted him to publicly state that he doesn’t “agree with everything Trump does”.
my wife just called me and she wanted me to make this clear to everyone. I don't agree with everything Trump does. I don't agree 100% with anyone but myself.
— ye (@kanyewest) April 25, 2018
Two hours after posting that message, Kanye uploaded a selfie of himself – along with Universal Music Group Chairman/CEO Sir Lucian Grainge and YouTube’s Global Head of Music Lyor Cohen – wearing an infamous ‘Make America Great Again’ hat.
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/989222392630202368
That tweet provoked a strong response from many of his followers who slammed Kanye for wearing the Trump-affiliated hat – which the President had, of course, signed for him.
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/989227154993963009
Shortly after these pictures were uploaded, Trump registered his approval for West’s recent Twitter activity by writing “Thank you Kanye, very cool!”
Thank you Kanye, very cool! https://t.co/vRIC87M21X
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 25, 2018
West seemed pretty pleased with the presidential shout-out as he then, bizarrely, tweeted a photo of another phone displaying Trump’s tweet.
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/989232654707912704
The artist has also spoken further today on his apparent ambition to run for US President in 2024 – although Kardashian later tweeted: “Kanye will never run in the race of popular opinion, and we know that, and that’s why I love him and respect him, and in a few years when someone else says the same exact thing, but they aren’t labeled the way he is, and you will all praise them!
“Kanye is years ahead of his time,” she added.
Earlier this week, US radio host Ebro Darden shed light on Kanye’s apparent admiration for the US President, with Ebro claiming that he’d spoken to the rapper on the phone last weekend.
During the conversation, Kanye allegedly told Ebro that he felt “demonised” for “speaking out and challenging conventional thought”, going on to tell him that he “loves” Donald Trump. The rapper infamously visited Trump while the latter was President-elect in December 2016.
Ebro also claimed that West had told him that he felt like “nobody really showed love for me when I was addicted to opioids and in the hospital”.
The rapper was hospitalised “for his own health and safety” back in November 2016, with reports at the time citing “severe sleep deprivation” as the reason for the hospitalisation. West was eventually released from hospital in December of that year.
Ebro added that he criticised the rapper for his public praise of right-wing pundit Candace Owens, accusing Kanye of “living in a bubble in Calabasas”.
Watch Darden recall the entire phone chat in the video below.
Meanwhile, West has announced the release dates for five albums since returning to Twitter. He has told fans to expect records from himself, Nas, Pusha T, Teyana Taylor, and his collaboration with Kid Cudi before the end of June.
West’s new album will be the follow-up to 2016’s ‘The Life Of Pablo’. Here’s everything we know about the release so far.
Additional words and reporting: Sam Moore
