During Thursday’s (August 9) episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, special guest Kanye West was put in the hot seat as the late-night talk show host grilled him about his support for Donald Trump.
At one point, ‘Ye appeared at a momentarily loss for words when Kimmel asked what made him think the current POTUS cares about people at all. But, West has now denied being “stumped” by the question.
“On Jimmy Kimmel we had a great time having a dialogue,” he wrote via Twitter. “I’m reading that I was stumped by a question. Let me clarify the click bait. I wasn’t stumped. I wasn’t given a chance to answer the question.”
He added, “The question was so important I took time to think. And then I was hit with the let’s go to commercial break. That interview showed strong personalities with different opinions having a civil conversation.”
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Despite the differing opinions on Trump’s effectiveness in office, West praised Kimmel and expressed gratitude for the opportunity.
“I was so happy when I saw Jimmy walk out in the Yeezys,” he said. “That was an olive branch. He lead with love. I appreciate Jimmy and his team. You guys are Jedi’s. much love.”
[This article has been updated. The last version was published on August 11, 2018 and can be found below.]
Following Kanye West’s appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! this Thursday (August 9), Donald Trump has (once again) thanked ‘Ye for his unwavering support. On Friday (August 10), Trump headed to Twitter to praise West for his perceived candor.
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“Thank you to Kanye West and the fact that he is willing to tell the TRUTH,” he wrote. “One new and great FACT – African American unemployment is the lowest ever recorded in the history of our Country. So honored by this. Thank you Kanye for your support. It is making a big difference!
West’s support of Trump has drawn criticism over the past several months, something ‘Ye defended during the Jimmy KimmelLive! appearance. He explained it’s more about overcoming his own personal fears than politics.
“I didn’t have the confidence to take on the world and possible backlash,” he explained. “It took me a year and a half to have the confidence to stand up and put on the hat, no matter what the consequences were and what it represented to me — it’s not about policies ’cause I’m not a politician like that. It represented overcoming fear.”
Despite any backlash, West continues to publicly support the current POTUS and exercise his right to “free thinking.” [apple_news_ad type=”any”]
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[This article has been updated. The original version was published on August 10, 2018 and can be found below.]
Kanye West was a special guest on Thursday night’s (August 9) episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! where he opened up about a bevy of topics, including his controversial political views. One question left ‘Ye uncharacteristically speechless.
As Kimmel was pressing him about his support for Donald Trump, he scoffed at the notion all black people should have “monolithic” thoughts and can only vote democrat.
“Just as a musician, African-American guy out in Hollywood – all these different things, everyone around me tried to pick my candidate for me and then told me every time I said I liked Trump that I couldn’t say it out loud or my career would be over, I’d get kicked out (of) the black community, because blacks, we’re supposed to have a monolithic thought – we can only be Democrats,” he said.
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Kimmel challenged West with, “There are literally families being torn apart as a result of what this president is doing, and I think that we cannot forget that whether we like his personality or not, his actions are really what matter.
“You’ve so famously and so powerfully said ‘George Bush doesn’t care about black people,’ it makes me wonder what makes you think that Donald Trump does, or any people at all?”
West’s face suddenly goes blank and he didn’t have an answer for that. After a few brief moments of awkward silence, Kimmel interjected and said, “Why don’t we take a break? We’ll come back.”
After the commercials, ‘Ye never had a chance to answer the question.
Elsewhere in the interview, ‘Ye defended his blatant support of Trump and said his 2016 hospitalization gave him the courage to put on the MAGA hat.
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“I didn’t have the confidence to take on the world and possible backlash,” he explained. “It took me a year and a half to have the confidence to stand up and put on the hat, no matter what the consequences were and what it represented to me — it’s not about policies ’cause I’m not a politician like that.
“But it represented overcoming fear and doing what you felt no matter what anyone said and saying you can’t bully me, liberals can’t bully me, news can’t bully me, the Hip Hop community, they can’t bully me. Because at that point, if I’m afraid to be me, I’m no longer ‘Ye. That’s what makes Ye. And I actually quite enjoy when people actually are mad at me about certain things.”
Watch the full segment above. [apple_news_ad type=”any”]
