President Trump thanked rapper Kanye West in a tweet Friday for telling the “truth” and touted black unemployment rates, as the president faces accusations of being a racist from former White House staffer Omarosa Manigault Newman.
The tweet comes a day after West told late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel in an interview Thursday that it took him more than a year to gain “the confidence to stand up and put on a [Make America Great Again] hat,” despite the consequences.
“Thank you to Kanye West and the fact that he is willing to tell the TRUTH. 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!” he wrote.
Thank you to Kanye West and the fact that he is willing to tell the TRUTH. 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!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 10, 2018
West said Thursday that his support of Trump does not necessarily mean he backs his policies — something West’s wife, Kim Kardashian West, said as her husband faced a barrage of backlash for his comments about the president. The hip-hop star is a fan of Trump’s personality, Kardashian West explained.
West said earlier this summer that he was “castrated” for supporting Trump, but told Kimmel he refuses to be bullied by those who believe he made a mistake.
“Liberals can’t bully me, news can’t bully me, the hip-hop community can’t bully me, they can’t bully me,” he told Kimmel. “Because at that point, if I’m afraid to be me, I’m no longer ‘Ye … And I actually quite enjoy when people are mad at me about certain things.”
Kardashian West met with Trump in recent months and has spoken highly of him after he granted clemency to Alice Marie Johnson, a 63-year-old woman who was servicing a life sentence for a nonviolent drug offense, at the reality TV star’s urging.
