Kanye West: “If I Would’ve Voted, I Would’ve Voted On Trump”
Last night, during a show in San Jose, Kanye West spent more than 15 minutes making a quasi-political speech about the recent election, race, and the education system, among other things. And as ABC reports, during that speech, he said that he hadn’t voted, but “if I would’ve voted, I would’ve voted on Trump.” He added: “That don’t mean that I don’t think that black lives matter. That don’t mean I don’t believe in women’s rights.”
West’s attraction to Trump didn’t seem to have anything to do with policy. Instead, it seems like it was entirely stylistic: “There’s nonpolitical methods to speaking that I like, that I feel were very futuristic. And that style, and that method of communication, has proven that it can beat a politically correct way of communication. And I fuck with that… I actually think that his approach was absolutely genius. Because it fucking worked!”
He also sent out this message: “Specifically to black people, stop focusing on racism. This world is racist, OK?” And he said that neither candidate would’ve been able to do anything to stop racism in America.
West said that people around him had told him not to say anything about voting for Trump before the election: “I wanted to say that before the election, but they told me, ‘Whatever you do, don’t say that out loud.'” And he lectured the crowd about booing him.
Below, watch some fan-made videos of the whole thing, via Pitchfork.
"I told y'all I didn't vote… if I would've voted, I would've voted on Trump." – Kanye West @ComplexMag @HipHopDX @IamAkademiks pic.twitter.com/Vsh9nR0qNs
— Aries Nunez (@Aries_Nunez) November 18, 2016
Kanye just said if he had voted (which he didn't) he would've voted Trump. pic.twitter.com/g2HyFz6KPD
— Justin Yang (@justin_yang) November 18, 2016
Kanye West tonight speaking on racism in America. "Specifically to black people, stop talking about race so much." pic.twitter.com/HTWlJgdq7E
— Brandon E. Patterson (@myblackmindd) November 18, 2016
During this whole episode, West also reaffirmed his stupid fucking plan to run for president in 2020. He’s lost my vote!
UPDATE: An extended video of Kanye’s speech has surfaced via Pigeons & Planes. In it, he mentions social issues that stand in opposition to Trump’s policies: “That don’t mean that I don’t think that Black Lives Matter. That don’t mean I don’t think that I’m a believer in women’s rights. That don’t mean I don’t believe in gay marriage. That don’t mean that I don’t believe in these things because that was the guy I would’ve voted for.”
And, as Spin has discovered, despite his words on stage, the Federal Election Commission records show that he has historically donated to the Democratic party, most recently with $2,700 to Hillary For America in July 2015 and a $15,000 donation to the Democratic National Committee in October 2014.
Kanye West might verbally support Trump, but he has donated to Hillary for America and the DNC in the past two years https://t.co/xsFNiK8gYG pic.twitter.com/sLwZ6VxaEz
— SPIN (@SPINmagazine) November 18, 2016