Having distanced himself from politics in October, Kanye West welcomed the new year by reaffirming his support for Donald Trump in a series of tweets.
“Trump all day,” West posted, followed by a tweet containing three dragon emojis, an apparent reference to his description of himself and the US president sharing “dragon energy”. A further tweet stated: “Just so in 2019 you know where I stand.”
He affirmed, “From now on I’m performing with my mutherfucking hat on,” in reference to the Make America Great Again hat associated with Trump’s presidential campaign that he frequently wore in 2018. In December, Pusha T – whose 2018 album Daytona was produced by West – told The Daily Show that West had stopped wearing the hat. Pusha T has described the accessory as “this generation’s Ku Klux hood”.
West explained his attraction to the Maga hat: “One of my favorite of many things about what the Trump hat represents to me is that people can’t tell me what to do because I’m black.”
In late October, West – stung by ultra-conservative commentator Candace Owens falsely claiming he had described the logo for her “Blexit” campaign designed to deter black Americans from voting Democrat – said: “My eyes are now wide open and now realize I’ve been used to spread messages I don’t believe in. I am distancing myself from politics and completely focusing on being creative!!!”
However, yesterday West warmed once again to the theme: “Blacks are 90% Democrats,” he tweeted (a Pew Research Center poll cited 90% of black voters supporting the Democrats in the 2018 House of Representatives race), and suggested: “That sounds like control to me,” adding a suspicious face emoji. “They will not program me,” he wrote.
In a tweet stating “2024”, West seemed to allude to his previously discussed ambitions to run for president. In early October, West met with Trump in the Oval Office and monologued about race relations, tax breaks, criminal justice and mental health and described the Maga hat as a “Superman cape”.
West also deleted a series of tweets aimed at Drake, with whom he is feuding. One tweet called out the Canadian rapper for following his wife, Kim Kardashian West, on Instagram. Drake appears to have unfollowed the reality star.
Last month, Snoop Dogg criticised West’s social media outbursts: “He acting a plum damn fool,” the rapper said in a video posted to Instagram.