Kanye West Receives Backlash After Praising Republican Candidate Ben Carson
Kanye West may be running for president 2020, but right now it looks like he’s backing Republican candidate Ben Carson. As the Inquisitr reported, West sat down for an interview with Vanity Fair. During the interview, the rapper-turned-maybe-politician said that he supported Carson.
“As soon as I heard Carson speak, I tried for three weeks to get on the phone with him. I was like this is the most brilliant guy.”
He continued, touching on the separation of parties, which he didn’t exactly agree with. “The idea of this separation and this gladiator battle takes away from the main focus that the world needs help and the world needs all the people in a position of power or influence to come together.”
Since these comments, West has received backlash due to his support of Ben Carson. People immediately took to Twitter to show their shock and disdain for the “I am a God” rapper.
@pitchfork Oh god nobody has time for that.
— LOUDFVCK (@TributeLoudFvck) September 24, 2015
Kanye West is a Ben Carson fan, so I’d like to direct everyone back to this tweet: https://t.co/UaDYsvAInk
— KB (@KaraRBrown) September 24, 2015
Kanye: “Racism isn’t real anymore.” Y’all: *…crickets* Kanye: *Supports Ben Carson* Y’all: “WTF?!? Kanye West: Cancelled.”
— Brichiko ☾ (@BriMalandro) September 24, 2015
@ComplexMusic don’t do this to me, @kanyewest.
— Mayowa (@YourBoyTricky) September 24, 2015
Kanye West is a big supporter of xenophobic hard-line Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson. @ComplexMusic https://t.co/tUJiluFgQb
— Ben Norton (@BenjaminNorton) September 24, 2015
This isn’t the only time Kanye has received backlash over making political statements. A few months back, West said that racism didn’t exist, to the disappointment of his fans. In March, West told Clique TV that racism is a dated concept.
“Racism is a dated concept. It’s, like, a silly concept that people try to touch on to either … to separate, to alienate, to pinpoint anything. It’s stupid. It’s like a bouncing ball in a room with two cats, when you don’t feel like playing with a cat. Let them literally fight over the bouncing ball. And the bouncing ball has nothing, no purpose, anything other than that it bounces. That’s racism. It’s not an actual thing that even means anything.”
He continued, “It’s something that was used to hold people back in the past. But now there’s been so many leaps and breaking of the rules that it’s, like, played out like a style from the 1800s or something. You know — the real true freedom isn’t in the words. The real true freedom is in the opportunity. And that’s what I’m saying. It’s opportunities and dignity, the dignity of people.”
As for his own bid for president, he told Vanity Fair that Yeezus for President is still happening in 2020.
[Photo by Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images]