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April 26, 2018
Ted Johnson, Eric & Wendy Schmidt Fellow, wrote for Slate about how Kanye West's approach to presidents is consistent with the tradition of black political expression:
"Kanye West set social media ablaze on Wednesday in typical Kanye fashion, making a provocative, out-of-the-blue statement in a matter-of-fact way. He said he loved Donald Trump, calling him his brother who’s filled with the same “dragon energy.” Even though he doesn’t agree with everything the president does, West said, he admires Trump’s independent thought. Kanye was energized and basking in the attention he’d commanded. Even President Trump responded to ’Ye twice, thanking him for his support and tweeting “MAGA!” in solidarity.
That Kanye is a Trump supporter is somewhat unsurprising and unremarkable. After all, like other black celebrities and athletes, he famously made the trek to Trump Tower shortly after the 2016 election to meet with the president-elect. And exit polls showed that about 1 in 8 black men supported Trump. Kanye, then, is just Brother No. 8. Black folks know lots of Brother No. 8s.
But how could he support a president who manages to see the goodness in white nationalists filled with racial vitriol but calls black football players protesting racial injustice sons of bitches? Where did the post-Katrina, “George Bush doesn’t care about black people” version of Kanye go?"