Rapper Kanye West delivered a pro-Trump speech while wearing the president’s iconic “Make America Great Again” hat during an appearance on “Saturday Night Live” over the weekend.
West, whose support for President Donald Trump was announced earlier this year, and who met with Trump in late 2016 after Trump was elected president, performed on “Saturday Night Live” before giving a speech.
The speech was cut off by NBC but was captured by audience members, who posted clips on social media.
West addressed a number of issues, including the history of welfare and the division of the nuclear family.
“I wanna cry right now … black man in America, supposed to keep what you’re feelin’ inside right now…” West said with a melody playing in the background, reported Fox News.
KANYE SNL TALK THAT GOT CUT OFF FREEDOM OF SPEECH SHOULD HAVE EXTENDED pic.twitter.com/IpULoEJxsN
— MIKE DEAN! #MWA (@therealmikedean) September 30, 2018
“The blacks want always Democrats…you know it’s like the plan they did, to take the fathers out the home and put them on welfare… does anybody know about that? That’s a Democratic plan.”
West also told the audience that he often discusses politics with white people and that they try to tell him that Trump is racist. “Well, if I was concerned about racism I would’ve moved out of America a long time ago,” West said.
West also said that he plans to run for president in 2020 and wanted to have an ongoing dialogue on politics as opposed to a diatribe.
‘Follow Your Heart’
“Follow your heart and stop following your mind,” West later said, according to clips posted online. “That’s how we’re controlled. That’s how we’re programmed. If you want the world to move forward, try love. Thank y’all for giving me this platform.”
West has frequently faced criticism from fellow rappers, singers, and performers for his public support of Trump, but has hit back, saying he won’t be bullied into thinking a certain way.
“You don’t have to agree with Trump but the mob can’t make me not love him,” he wrote on Twitter in April.
“I don’t agree with everything anyone does. That’s what makes us individuals. And we have the right to independent thought.”
Bullied
On Saturday, West said he was bullied by people backstage who didn’t want him to wear the red “MAGA” hat.
“They bullied me backstage. They said, ‘Don’t go out there with that hat on.’ They bullied me and then they said I’m in the sunken place!” he said. “I think the universe has balance. Ninety percent of news is liberal—90 percent of TV, L.A., New York, writers, rappers, musicians—so it’s easy to make it seem like it’s so, so, so one-sided.”
The president was alerted to West’s appearance and praised him, as he has in the past.
“Like many, I don’t watch Saturday Night Live (even though I past hosted it)—no longer funny, no talent or charm. It is just a political ad for the Dems,” Trump wrote on Twitter.
Like many, I don’t watch Saturday Night Live (even though I past hosted it) – no longer funny, no talent or charm. It is just a political ad for the Dems. Word is that Kanye West, who put on a MAGA hat after the show (despite being told “no”), was great. He’s leading the charge!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2018
“Word is that Kanye West, who put on a MAGA hat after the show (despite being told ‘no’), was great. He’s leading the charge!”
Trump earlier this year thanked West for his support, saying ” It is making a big difference!”
