Kim Kardashian and Kanye West Engage Trump Via Tweetstorm

What started out as a welcome return to Twitter by Kanye West has become a dizzying descent into what looks, unfortunately, like a social media tailspin, with the rapper tweeting about his love for Donald Trump and their shared “dragon energy.” Early Wednesday afternoon, Kim Kardashian West seemingly had enough, though it appears she isn’t in the same room as her husband to be able to gently take away his phone: Kanye tweeted that Kim called him to “make this clear to everyone. I don’t agree with everything Trump does. I don’t agree 100 percent with anyone but myself.” That, at least West and POTUS can both agree on (extreme narcissism, that is). Trump eventually got in on the discussion himself, as per our updates at the bottom of this article.

Kanye already sent the Internet into hysterics earlier this week when his mostly benign feed veered suddenly to the alt-right; what had started off with some loving tributes to ex-brother-in-law Lamar Odom and a sneak peek of his new neck tattoo turned 4chan-esque, with Kanye tweeting his appreciation for Candace Owens, a young black commentator with conservative youth organization Turning Point USA, who has said that Black Lives Matter protestors are “whiners” with a “victim mentality.”

Things got worse when he started to retweet a series of deranged videos from Dilbert creator Scott Adams, who created an elaborate tribute to Kanye’s Owens tweet, saying, “in seven words,” he had “unlocked a mental prison and is bringing you to the Golden Age.”

If you thought that was peak contrarian Kanye, or that you wouldn’t have any more need for the Edvard Munch The Scream emoji this week, his tweets went even more rogue today, starting early in the morning with his announcement that “I can’t be managed.” Cut to Kim Kardashian West, who, as of 18 hours ago on her Instagram, at least, appeared to be cavorting in the great outdoors and sharing new KKW Beauty products. Kim first appeared to get involved with her husband’s Twitter feed earlier on Wednesday, when he began posting images of the interiors of their house. Kim retweeted Kanye, and asked if she could film her show there now that he broke an apparent rule that they not show it to the public: “Ummm babe,” she wrote. “We had a rule to not show our home on social media! Soooo can we now allow KUWTK filming in the home?” (She followed up: “Oh RELAX I’m joking! Seriously you can’t have a personality on social media these days or your [sic] called bizarre or disturbing.”)

But that was light interference compared to Kim’s reaction to some of Kanye’s tweets later in the day, in which he pushed back against the backlash (a seemingly imbecilic, yet essential concept of celebrity Twitter) to his conservative views: “You don’t have to agree with Trump but the mob can’t make me not love him,” Kanye said. “We are both dragon energy. He is my brother. I love everyone. I don’t agree with everything anyone does. That’s what makes us individuals. And we have the right to independent thought.”

It’s hard to say exactly what Kanye’s intentions are in suddenly championing people and organizations that buttress white supremacy (Alex Jones of InfoWars was quick to beg Kanye for an interview after his Owens tweets). Especially given that Kanye’s rabble-rousing used to notoriously be directed at those in power—see his infamous “George Bush doesn’t care about black people” clip or his refusal to accept that Taylor Swift deserved a Grammy more than Beyoncé—his rightward pivot is alarming. The New Yorker’s Jelani Cobb had an interesting theory that it has to do with an old jealousy regarding Barack Obama’s affinity for Jay-Z. For whatever the reason, writer Osita Nwanevu argued at Slate that the tweets matter: “However dubious the political fortunes of the new far right might be, it clearly has legs as a subculture,” he wrote, “one sizable enough, now, to have captured the attention of one of the most important figures in superstardom.”

Kim Kardashian West is likely fully aware of the threat Kanye’s claim to share Trump’s “dragon energy” might pose to her massive brand. Is he referring to the president’s 19 sexual misconduct accusers? The “dragon energy” it might take to lie your way onto the Forbes 400 list? An hour later, Kanye appeared to walk back his “love” for 45, after which the Internet breathed a small sigh of relief—Kanye was back to apolitical non sequiturs, telling the world, “I’m nice at ping pong”—until he subsequently tweeted a picture of himself in a red Make America Great Again hat.

Meanwhile, Kim asked that the public not attribute Kanye’s behavior to a mental health issue and admitted that she has “very different feelings and opinions” than her husband on Trump, but defends his right to his own opinion.

Update: In an extremely predictable and yet disturbing turn of events, Donald Trump tweeted “Thank you Kanye, very cool!” this afternoon. Time to log off, world.