Kanye West tells angry audience he would have voted for Donald Trump
Kanye West may have posed for a selfie with Hillary Clinton, but he would have been a Donald Trump voter if he had decided to cast a ballot this year, the rapper told his audience in San Jose, California, on Thursday night. "[The Democrats] thought they had me because ... just because I was black or just because I was a celebrity," West told the audience to loud boos. "But Trump is our president. And that would've been my vote, so I feel right."
West had stopped the concert to expound on politics and many concertgoers in the blue state took the opportunity to leave:
"[Voting for Trump] don't mean that I don't think that black lives matter," West went on. "That don't mean I don't believe in women's rights, that don't mean that I don't believe in gay marriage."
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West's wife, Kim Kardashian, and his in-law, Caitlyn Jenner, have also expressed their support of Trump. "At first I thought, 'Oh my God, I'm so Hillary [Clinton],' but I had a long political call with Caitlyn last night about why she's voting Trump. I'm on the fence," Kardashian said in June. After outcry, she backtracked to say "I'm with her."
West himself has long been a Democratic supporter, donating $1,000 to Barack Obama's 2012 presidential campaign and $15,000 to the Democratic National Committee before the last midterm.
But others saw this coming. In late September, Hot Air responded to the Kardashian news by writing "This Twilight Zone episode of an election can only end in January with Trump taking the oath of office as Kim, Caitlyn, Kris, Kourtney, Khloe, Kendall, Kylie, and of course Kanye look on from the dais behind him."
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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
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