Kanye West continued his vocal support of Donald Trump during an appearance on the September 29 episode of Saturday Night Live where the rapper donned a MAGA hat for the show’s closing credits.
He then let loose with a bizarre rant to the audience in attendance, which was not televised by NBC, occurring after the credits rolled to close out the season’s debut episode, leaving many confused and angered by his comments.
CNN reported the rapper’s statements were captured by comedian Chris Rock on Instagram.
“There’s so many times I talk to like a white person about this and they say, ‘How could you like Trump? He’s racist,’” West said from the stage. “Well, if I was concerned about racism I would’ve moved out of America a long time ago.”
While it seems strange that West is one of the most vocal celebrity supporters of Donald Trump, his appreciation for Trump’s rise to the top began many years before the former reality star and businessman took the presidential oath of office.
On April 25, West noted that he will always stand behind the president with a tweet that read, “You don’t have to agree with trump but the mob can’t make me not love him.”
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/989179757651574784?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Back in 2016, West also voiced his praise for Trump during a tour stop on his Saint Pablo Tour in Sacramento, California. Just weeks later, he met with the then-candidate at Trump Tower, as reported by Rolling Stone who noted the rapper commenting, “It is important to have a direct line of communication with our future President if we truly want change.”
Their friendship seems odd since Trump once disparaged West after he stormed the stage at the MTV VMA Awards in 2009 and opposed Taylor Swift’s win of Best Female Video over Beyonce.
TMZ reported that Trump stated West’s behavior was “disgusting” and urged people to boycott his music and concerts.
https://youtu.be/UWwjIjX5udc
Despite Trump’s past negative comments regarding West, It seems that the rapper has had his eye on the biggest prize of all, the presidency, for many years and perhaps his relationship with Trump is all about learning the inner workings of the White House before throwing his own support as a candidate in 2020.
West has said several times, beginning in 2015, that he would run for President of the United States.
At the 2015 MTV VMAs, West declared upon receiving the Video Vanguard award from Taylor Swift no less, “It’s about ideas. New ideas. People with ideas. People who believe in truth,” West told the crowd. “And yes, as you probably could’ve guessed by this moment, I have decided in 2020 to run for president.”
This announcement did not deter Trump at all from maintaining his relationship with the rapper. In fact, it seems to have drawn the two closer.
He told Rolling Stone shortly after learning of West’s desire to run, “He’s said very nice things about me in the past…extremely positive things.”
“He’s actually a different kind of person than people think. He’s a nice guy,” Trump continued. “I hope to run against him someday.”
Hot 97 host Ebro Darden had West as a guest on his show in April of 2018 and the rapper and entertainment mogul noted that “I do love Donald Trump.”
Shortly after his Saturday Night Live appearance, which was to coincide with the release of his new album Yandhi, West now wants to professionally be called Ye.
