Kanye West once again shocked fans when he said “I would have voted on Trump,” at a Saint Pablo Tour show last night. The rapper is known for being controversial, but these comments sent it over the top in the current sensitive political climate.
“This is my platform and I’m going to talk about the paradigm shift that’s happening right now,” West said in fan shot videos.
"I would have voted for Trump." - Kanye West pic.twitter.com/g9qxaT7aRc
— billy (@billycrossover) November 18, 2016
His 40-minute rant is slightly confusing as there are only tweets and videos from fans, in lieu of an official transcript.
Based on the information available, West was not praising Trump, but the nature of his campaign, which “inspired racists to reveal themselves.” “Whether you voted for Hillary or Trump, this is a safe space for both of you,” West further said to the audience, as well as bringing up talk of his own theoretical run for president in 2020.
His claims that his run (in the not so distant future) would focus on education and a different political model would be used. “Stop focusing on racism,” he said. “We live in a racist country - period.”
In typical West fashion, his views are now erratic, and contrast his 2005 view that “George Bush doesn’t care about black people,” following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina according to The Independent.
Reactions from fans at the concert were mixed, and while one woman shouted out that she loved him in spite of his kudos to Trump’s campaign, there were also a lot of boos as well as shocked silence. One fan even threw a Yeezy shoe at him, which West then signed and returned.
A fan under the Twitter handle of @RaptorJesuss even took it upon himself to live tweet the entire concert.
Kanye: "The internet is going to take this out of context" Now playing That Part — Raptor (@RaptorJesuss) November 18, 2016
Another show stopped. Kanye is asking who voted for Hillary, mixed cheers and boos. Kanye is calling out Trump supporters.
— Raptor (@RaptorJesuss) November 18, 2016
"People who voted for either side come out to the show, I know media is more liberal, what I'm saying is I'm not judging Trump voters" — Raptor (@RaptorJesuss) November 18, 2016
"There are Hillary supporters that may be louder, but MY fact is that there are people who who voted for Trump here at the show"
— Raptor (@RaptorJesuss) November 18, 2016
"There are Hillary supporters that may be louder, but MY fact is that there are people who who voted for Trump here at the show" — Raptor (@RaptorJesuss) November 18, 2016
"The dumbest thing about politics is that politics separate, not one side or the other side is bad, it's not Democratic or Republican"
— Raptor (@RaptorJesuss) November 18, 2016
