Kanye West Donates To Democratic Chicago Mayoral Candidate Amara Enyia Weeks After Trump Meeting

Only a few weeks after sharing a hug with Donald Trump in the Oval Office, rapper Kanye West cemented his political change of heart with a donation of $126,460 to Chicago Democratic mayoral candidate Amara Enyia, according to reports from the Chicago Sun-Times.

The Chicago native’s latest donation comes on top of his previous $73,540 donation to Enyia, which the rapper made earlier in October.

Enyia publicly thanked West at a recent rally in the city, saying, “I also have to give a shoutout and kudos to Ye, who is from the South Side and is invested and committed to giving back to our city.”

Chicago’s mayoral elections will be held on February 26, 2019.

West’s donation is just the latest interaction with politics, which has usually been marked by controversy. When he was a new artist who wasn’t particularly well known outside of hip-hop enthusiasts, West made national news when he said President George W. Bush “doesn’t care about black people” at a fundraiser in the days following Hurrican Katrina. President Barack Obama also once referred to West as a “jack***.”

Since Donald Trump rose to prominence in politics, West has emerged as one of his most notable celebrity supporters, often seen in public wearing the bright red “Make America Great Again” hat and expressing his love for the president on Twitter.

That all changed last week when West revealed on Twitter that he would be removing himself from future political comments due to the backlash that came from his support for Trump, as well as some controversial statements he had made in regards to race over 2018.

None were more controversial than when West confidently claimed that slavery was a “choice,” a statement that the rapper eventually walked back and apologized for after coming under immense criticism.

West officially announced the end of his involvement with politics on October 30, when the rapper tweeted, “My eyes are now wide open and now realize I’ve been used to spread messages I don’t believe in. I am distancing myself from politics and completely focusing on being creative!!!”

It appears as though West’s definition of “distancing” himself from politics does not prevent him from continuing to make political donations, but West has indeed been quiet when it came to making public comments in regard to politics. The Chicago rapper has taken a much more apolitical approach to social media in the past week, with his last tweet saying, “McDonald’s is my favorite restaurant.”