Kanye West is playing peacemaker. The rapper revealed in a new interview that he is trying to arrange a meeting between President Donald Trump and Colin Kaepernick.
“I been calling Colin this morning, reaching him so I can bring Colin to the White House and we can remove that ‘sons of bitches’ statement and we can be on the same page,” West, 41, said on TMZ Live on Monday, October 1, referencing the phrase that Trump, 72, once used to describe NFL players who kneel during the national anthem in protest of racism and police brutality in the U.S.
Tensions flared in the first clip from Monday’s interview as the 21-time Grammy winner repeatedly asked TMZ founder Harvey Levin to rephrase a question about bringing two sides together.
“You had said that people have the ability to grow, and what I’m saying is, at a point …” Levin, 68, began before West interrupted, “Yeah, what you’re saying. So now I’m waiting for a question for me. That’s your point. We’re not making a point. You’re gonna ask me a question.”
The visibly frustrated host began speaking at a slower pace as he asked, “Do you give up on somebody growing when they are unrelenting at a point where you say they are who they are?”
Sporting a red “Make America Great Again” cap, the Yeezy designer smiled and responded, “I love it. Now you asked me the perfect question. You set me up to win. We never give up on anyone. We never give up on anyone. Now let me even make that more positive: We move forward, we give love, we keep going, we keep having the conversation until the conversation turns to love.”
West’s interview comes two days after he was booed for delivering a speech in support of Trump on Saturday Night Live. “If I was concerned about racism, I would’ve moved out of America a long time ago,” he quipped on stage at the end of the show.
The “New Slaves” MC then tweeted on Sunday, September 30, that the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery, should be repealed. Chris Evans and Lana Del Rey were among the celebrities who slammed West for his tweet, with the later writing on Instagram, “If you think it’s alright to support someone who believes it’s OK to grab a woman by the p–sy just because he’s famous — then you need an intervention as much as he does.”
West explained the post on TMZ Live on Monday. “‘Abolish’ was the wrong language. I misspoke by saying ‘abolish,’” he clarified. “‘Amend’ is the right language. … And what’s beautiful about our Constitution is that we can amend it.”
