(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Declaring that his red “MAGA” hat makes him “feel like Superman,” rapper Kanye West made a free-styling appearance in the Oval Office Thursday.
Ahead of a private lunch, President Donald Trump and West spoke with reporters as they sat across from each other at the Resolute desk. West dominated the conversation with a series of monologues that touched on social policy, mental health, endorsement deals and his support for the president.
Why the Kanye West-Jim Brown lunch with Trump was a disaster | Analysis by CNN’s Nia-Malika Henderson https://t.co/0iKV8yJWYs pic.twitter.com/n5kVoGZXph
— CNN (@CNN) October 11, 2018
“Trump is on his hero’s journey right now,” West said, tossing out an expletive to describe himself.
West said that many people believe that, if you’re black, you have to be a Democrat and said he was pressured not to wear his red “Make America Great Again” hat. But he said “this hat, it gives me power.”
West credited Trump with preventing a war with North Korea and encouraged Trump to swap his usual Air Force One for a hydrogen-powered plane. West also argued that Trump deserved more respect, saying: “if he don’t look good, we don’t look good.”
During a pause in West’s comments, Trump said: “I tell you what that was pretty impressive.” He also described West as a “smart cookie.”
The rapper also spoke against stop-and-frisk policing policies, which Trump recently expressed support for. Trump said he was open to other ideas.
Trump recently tweeted praise for West, who closed a “Saturday Night Live” show wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat and delivering an unscripted pro-Trump message after the credits rolled.
West is married to reality television star Kim Kardashian West, who pushed Trump to grant a pardon for a drug offender this year.
Naturally, folks all over the political map had to weigh in:
Here’s that long, rambling Kanye speech from inside the Oval Office that everyone is talking about. pic.twitter.com/RkcnPORdYb
— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) October 11, 2018
If this is where Kanye wants to be, then let him be there. Quit trying to explain Kanye to us. He’s doing a pretty good job of telling us who he is and where he wants to be. Hmmmm is this where the Kardashian’s stand also. Their time time might be up also. Just saying !!! pic.twitter.com/qWXbEn1jIh
— Sinbad (@sinbadbad) October 11, 2018
Kanye West’s comments today about African Americans and welfare were as objectively false as they were dangerous in perpetuating stereotypes that position low-income blacks as the face of America’s welfare system.
— Geoff Bennett (@GeoffRBennett) October 11, 2018
“The President had important things he could have drawn attention to.. the Florida panhandle…Jamal Khashoggi ..but this isn’t a normal white house. Not even close. So today, in front of a full press pool, the President turned the oval office over to Kanye West” @NicolleDWallace pic.twitter.com/chVfBJgTCm
— Deadline White House (@DeadlineWH) October 11, 2018
#Kanye couldn’t have said it better: Illegal guns are the problem, and we have the right to bear arms. The #NRA’s nearly six million members are glad to see a celebrity who gets it, and who is willing to stand with the #2A. @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/RJffxucAM5
— NRA (@NRA) October 11, 2018
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