Chance on Kanye’s Trump Tweets: “Black People Don’t Have to Be Democrats”

Frank Ocean, Janelle Monáe, Jordan Peele, and more react to Kanye’s divisive day on Twitter

Today, Kanye West has been extremely active on Twitter. Among those tweets were messages of support for President Donald Trump. “You don’t have to agree with Trump, but the mob can’t make me not love him,” he wrote. “He is my brother. I love everyone.” After Ebro Darden wondered what Kanye’s fellow Chicago rappers thought about his tweets, Chance the Rapper responded, “Talked to him two days ago. He’s in a great space and not affected by folk tryna question his mental or physical health. Same Ye from the Vmas, same Ye from the telethon.” He added, “Black people don’t have to be democrats.” (Kanye later shared a screenshot of Chance’s tweet.)

Frank Ocean shared an apparent response to the controversy on Tumblr, posting a screenshot from the Katrina telethon where Kanye famously declared that “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.”

Lupe Fiasco also weighed in. After tweeting that Trump is a “terrible human being,” he clarified that he doesn’t have any ill will for Kanye. “seen his trials and tribulations and can’t take anything away from his journey...remember this the same dude that when he speaks US Presidents respond,” he wrote. “Don’t forget about Katrina cuz you don’t like his tweets.”

Not everyone was as supportive of Kanye’s recent sentiments. In an interview on “Ebro in the Morning,” Janelle Monáe responded to his support of Candace Owens by saying, “I believe in free thinking, but I don’t believe in free thinking if it's rooted in or at the expense of the oppressed. If your free thinking is used as fuel by oppressors to continue to oppress black people and minorities, I think it’s bullshit and it’s not OK, and I will speak out against it and I will think freely and tell you that I don’t agree with you."

Other reactions were more lighthearted. Questlove asked Vince Staples if he could “say something......anything....inspirational” following Kanye’s tweets. Find Staples’ offering below. Jordan Peele also joked that Kanye’s tweets have inspired him to write a Get Out sequel.

When asked for his opinion on Kanye, Lil Yachty referred to him as the “🐐.” Then, presumably after seeing what happened today, he wrote, “Lol ohhh I️ get I️t. I️ see why someone asked bout ye lol... yikes.”

Read “A Conversation With the Professor Who Taught a Politics of Kanye West Course About Those MAGA Tweets.”