At a concert in San Jose during his Saint Pablo tour, Kanye West opened up about the 2016 election in typical style. According to videos and tweets from the night, West told fans —in no particular order — that if he'd voted he would have voted for Donald Trump; that Trump’s approach to campaigning was "absolutely genius because it fucking worked"; that black people need to stop "being distracted" by racism and accept that the US is a racist country; and that he himself is still planning to run for president in 2020.
West seems to have peppered these comments and more throughout the entire night, with concertgoers reporting that he repeatedly stopped songs, sometimes to go on longer rants, and sometimes just to make a single comment. Twitter user @RaptorJesuss live-tweeted the entire show, but here are some of the highlights:
Kanye just said he thinks he'll have the experience in 2020 to run for office, I'm dead serious, Kanye just said he's preparing for 2020.
— Raptor (@RaptorJesuss) November 18, 2016
Kanye West just stopped the show again to tell us that Kanye liked Trumps campaign. Someone threw something at Kanye but he isn't mad.
— Raptor (@RaptorJesuss) November 18, 2016
Kanye is now saying how he loved Trumps debate style. Kanye is glad Trump inspired racists to reveal themselves. "This is the beginning"
— Raptor (@RaptorJesuss) November 18, 2016
Kanye then says "Neither candidate would fix racism in this country" Walks off stage, end of concert. WOW.
— Raptor (@RaptorJesuss) November 18, 2016
There's also video of West saying he would have voted for Trump:
"I would've voted for Trump" - @kanyewest pic.twitter.com/XtyUteCgUZ
— albertoreyes (@albertoreyes) November 18, 2016
That Trump's campaign approach was "absolutely genius":
As well as telling black people to "stop focusing on racism":
"To black people, stop focusing on racism. We live in a racist country -- that is a fact." - @kanyewest pic.twitter.com/utmV9a99LJ
— albertoreyes (@albertoreyes) November 18, 2016
According to comments made during the show, West has been a Trump supporter for a while, but was advised by Scooter Braun (Justin Bieber's manager) not to reveal the fact before the election. And although the rapper's comments will no doubt be scrutinized by fans and haters alike, it's at least fair to say that whatever Kanye West thinks about Trump, it's not straightforward. And, like the president-elect, he certainly knows how to play the media when he wants.