Kanye and President Trump
Sarah Hoover
Sarah Hoover
Recently, Kanye West and President Donald Trump had a working lunch at the White House. Along with Kanye was retired football player, Jim Brown, although Kanye did most all of the talking. While no cameras were allowed in the lunch, cameras were allowed in the Oval Office. So, before the lunch, Kanye discussed his opinions on issues in America among other random topics for the whole world to hear.
There is a lot of debate when it comes to Trump and Kanye's intentions for this meeting and what topics they wanted to discuss. When asked if she thinks if Kanye`s support for Trump is political or more social, Amelia Archer says, “I think that some things he says are for political reasons, but I think he is just trying to get his fans to like, follow in his footsteps and to come out and to publicly display their support for Trump.” On the other hand, Robyn Boyo shares, “I think it's for political reasons, because he already has enough publicity.”
While Kanye goes on about his Make America Great Again hat, he points out, “This hat, it gives me power in a way...when I put this hat on, it made me feel like Superman.” He begins to talk about how he looks up to Trump and American industries and then about his company he started. Throughout the video, he went from one topic to the next, freely speaking about whatever was on his mind. While he did this, Trump sat at his desk and took in everything he was saying. Trump`s intentions with this alliance are also very unclear. Is he befriending Kanye and Jim for publicity, so he can be seen with an African American rapper and football player? Amelia says, “I think Trump is doing all of this for publicity too, because he wants people to think that he is not racist and this and that, and so he wants to cover up his past racist comments by being with a black person.” Like with any political friendship, the outcomes can be both beneficial and not so beneficial.
A lot of these things can also affect our society. Chi-Chi Okoro says, “Kanye being a black famous performer, liking and endorsing Trump, kind of separates him from the rest of the black community. Also, it means that black people or anybody of any type of color can like Trump which is kind of unheard of.” With this Chi-Chi explains that because Kanye is coming out and sharing his opinion, other people can be inspired to do the same thing which can pull people closer and apart in our society. She also says that if people had a more open mind about their friendship, that our country could move in a more positive direction. She says that a friendship like theirs can demolish some of the typical stereotypes. For instance, she states, “Some people think, Oh I’m a white person so I can’t be friends with a black person, which is false. Oh, I’m, straight so I shouldn’t be friends with a gay or a lesbian person, which is also false. So, you know, it’s all good, it brings us closer together.”
The video of the event ends with Kanye getting up and hugging Trump, saying how much he loves him. Kanye's feelings towards the president are clear but what is to come from this relationship between the two influencer's is very clouded.
There is a lot of debate when it comes to Trump and Kanye's intentions for this meeting and what topics they wanted to discuss. When asked if she thinks if Kanye`s support for Trump is political or more social, Amelia Archer says, “I think that some things he says are for political reasons, but I think he is just trying to get his fans to like, follow in his footsteps and to come out and to publicly display their support for Trump.” On the other hand, Robyn Boyo shares, “I think it's for political reasons, because he already has enough publicity.”
While Kanye goes on about his Make America Great Again hat, he points out, “This hat, it gives me power in a way...when I put this hat on, it made me feel like Superman.” He begins to talk about how he looks up to Trump and American industries and then about his company he started. Throughout the video, he went from one topic to the next, freely speaking about whatever was on his mind. While he did this, Trump sat at his desk and took in everything he was saying. Trump`s intentions with this alliance are also very unclear. Is he befriending Kanye and Jim for publicity, so he can be seen with an African American rapper and football player? Amelia says, “I think Trump is doing all of this for publicity too, because he wants people to think that he is not racist and this and that, and so he wants to cover up his past racist comments by being with a black person.” Like with any political friendship, the outcomes can be both beneficial and not so beneficial.
A lot of these things can also affect our society. Chi-Chi Okoro says, “Kanye being a black famous performer, liking and endorsing Trump, kind of separates him from the rest of the black community. Also, it means that black people or anybody of any type of color can like Trump which is kind of unheard of.” With this Chi-Chi explains that because Kanye is coming out and sharing his opinion, other people can be inspired to do the same thing which can pull people closer and apart in our society. She also says that if people had a more open mind about their friendship, that our country could move in a more positive direction. She says that a friendship like theirs can demolish some of the typical stereotypes. For instance, she states, “Some people think, Oh I’m a white person so I can’t be friends with a black person, which is false. Oh, I’m, straight so I shouldn’t be friends with a gay or a lesbian person, which is also false. So, you know, it’s all good, it brings us closer together.”
The video of the event ends with Kanye getting up and hugging Trump, saying how much he loves him. Kanye's feelings towards the president are clear but what is to come from this relationship between the two influencer's is very clouded.