Kanye West is in hot water for endorsing President Donald Trump again. The rapper is standing by his support for the former reality star and reportedly told Hot 97 DJ Ebro Darden during a phone conversation that he “loves” Trump.
The “Waves” rapper, 40, first sparked controversy when he tweeted his support for anti-Black Lives Matter conservative commentator Candace Owens on Saturday, April 21. “I love the way Candace Owens thinks,” West tweeted.
I love the way Candace Owens thinks
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) April 21, 2018
“I’m freaking out. @kanyewest ….please take a meeting with me. I tell every single person that everything that I have been inspired to do, was written in your music,” Owens tweeted in response. “I am my own biggest fan, because you made it okay. I need you to help wake up the black community.”
Following the backlash from those tweets, the DJ tweeted saying that he had a phone conversation with the fashion designer on Sunday, April 22, to address his tweets. “Just spoke to @kanyewest …” he shared. “What I gathered from our debate and disagreement I’ll try to unpack …. Sheesh!”
Darden, 43, spoke about their conversation during his morning radio show on Monday, April 23, and said that West told him that he praised Owens because “she is challenging conventional black thought.” According to the radio personality, the 21-time Grammy winner said that he believes that as a society, people demonize individuals who are trying to think differently. “Multiple times through the conversation he said ‘I just want to lead with love. I just want to be about love,’” Darden said. “And I said, ‘You’re a liar. The people you are aligning yourself with aren’t leading with love.’”
The DJ continued: “Then he said, ‘I do love Donald Trump.’ Kanye West quote: ‘I love Donald Trump.’”
The rapper first met with Trump, 71, in December 2016 after the real estate mogul won the presidency against Hillary Clinton that November. The meeting took place at Trump Tower in NYC and later the pair posed for photos together in the lobby. “We’ve been friends for a long time,” Trump told reporters at the time. “Life, we discuss life.” Their meeting took place almost two weeks after West was hospitalized in the UCLA Medical Center for nine days due to extreme exhaustion.
West’s Twitter rant comes just days after the rapper announced that he has two albums coming out in June, one being a collaboration album with Kid Cudi.
