In a nearly 10-minute speech, Kanye West touched on racism, tax breaks, prison reform, mental health and the need for art programs in schools during his visit to the White House on Thursday, using his meeting to highlight issues that he thinks are most important to the African-American community.
“You are tasting a fine wine,” West told reporters as he knelt in front of the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office. “It has complex notes to it.”
During West’s meeting with President Donald Trump, the topic of West’s potential future political career was brought up, with Trump saying that the rapper “could very well be” a future presidential candidate.
The rapper, wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat, responded: “Only after 2024.”
“Let’s stop worrying about the future all we have is today,” West said. “Trump is on his hero’s journey right now. He might not have thought he’d have a crazy m***** f***** like [me].”
Kanye West to Donald Trump “I love you, I love this guy” pic.twitter.com/WuJSS8xhym
— gifdsports (@gifdsports) October 11, 2018
According to ABC News, West discussed the criticism he has received from hip-hop fans, recording artists and friends for supporting the president, saying, “If he don’t look good, we don’t look good. This is our president.”
West also touched on his previous comments about former President George W. Bush not caring about the African-American community, saying he was “caught up in a victim mentality.”
In his lengthy speech, West claimed that he is in the 98th percentile on his IQ test, and that he is not bipolar, but rather was severely sleep deprived. West also called for farmers and factories to be empowered, and said that American automobile maker Ford should design the “dopest” and the “fliest most amazing cars.”
According to The Huffington Post, the rapper also brought up Trump’s former political opponent, Hillary Clinton, explaining why he didn’t vote for the former Secretary of State for president.
“I love Hillary. I love everyone, but the campaign ‘I’m with her’ just didn’t make me feel — as a guy,” West remarked.
“I love Hillary. I love everyone, but the campaign ‘I’m with her’ just didn’t make me feel — as a guy … it was something about this hat that made me feel like Superman,” famed musician Kanye West said of his MAGA hat while discussing masculinity, the economy and his brand pic.twitter.com/T06Z5tOSIU
— POLITICO (@politico) October 11, 2018
Trump said at one point that West “can speak for me any time he wants. He’s a smart cookie. He gets it.”
When West finished his monologue, Trump told the reporters in the room: “I tell you what ― that was pretty impressive. That was quite something.”
“It was from the soul. I just channeled it,” West responded.
In a statement from White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders, the president and the rapper discussed prison reform, the African-American unemployment rate and violence in West’s hometown of Chicago.
West’s wife, Kim Kardashian West, has visited the White House twice this year to discuss prison reform with the president, along with the president’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, and son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
Last month, West appeared on “Saturday Night Live” wearing a red “Make America Great Again” hat, and went on a pro-Trump rant. West was booed for his rant and later slammed by “SNL” cast member Pete Davidson as “one of the worse things I’ve ever seen working here.”
On Thursday, West declared that his “Make America Great Again” hat gives him “power.”
“It was something about when I put this hat on, it made me feel like Superman. That’s my favorite superhero,” West said. “You make a superhero cape as a guy who looks up to you and looks up to American industry guys. Nonpolitical, no b*******. However you want to do it.”
In an interview with Fox and Friends on Thursday, Trump called West “a friend of mine.” On Tuesday, the president called the rapper “a terrific guy” and someone who “loves what we’re doing for African-American jobs.”