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In 2009, Kanye West interrupted Taylor Swift at the VMAs, prompting criticism from everyone to then-President Barack Obama. In an interview, Obama called West a “jacka**.” Years later, West still felt the former president should have apologized to him. While he said he still liked Obama, West resented what he said.
Kanye West once said he wanted an apology from Barack Obama
After West interrupted Swift’s acceptance speech at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, a video of Obama speaking about it leaked.
“I thought that was really inappropriate,” he told CNBC at the time. “You know it was like she’s getting an award – why are you butting in? The young lady seems like a perfectly nice person. She’s getting her award. What’s he doing up there? He’s a jacka**.”
In a 2018 video interview with Charlamagne tha God, West expressed frustration that Obama never called him to apologize.
“He never called me to apologize,” West said (via Buzzfeed News). “The same person that sat down with me and my mom I think should’ve communicated to me directly and been like, ‘Yo, Ye… You know what it is! I’m in the room — it was just a joke.”
He said he still liked the former president.
“Nobody’s perfect,” he said. “I love Obama. I’m sure we’ll hang out, go to Richard Branson’s island. It’ll be cool. I just think that we were in a period where he had so much stuff to do that he couldn’t deal with a wild card like me.”
While he found it frustrating that Obama maintained relationships with other rappers like Jay-Z and Kendrick Lamar, he still wanted to support the first Black president.
“This man was the Jackie Robinson of politics,” he said. “He was the first person to do it. So, you know, we want to be supportive.”
Barack Obama doubled down on his opinion of Kanye West
In 2020, Obama spoke positively about West.
“He’s a Chicago guy,” he said, per Essence. “Smart. He’s very talented.”
Still, he hadn’t changed his opinion about him. While Obama thought West was talented, he still considered him a “jacka**.”
“He is a jacka**,” he said. “But he’s talented.”
The rapper has supported Donald Trump
Though West expressed support for Obama, he also spoke about why he likes Donald Trump.
“I love people who don’t love him,” he said, adding, “I love the fact that they speaking up and everybody’s just giving their opinions. I been waiting for this moment in time. This is like a Ye moment in time.”
In 2020, West said that his dream candidate would have a campaign similar to Trump’s and policies like Bernie Sanders’. He liked that Trump was able to win as a political outsider.
“The fact that he won proves something. It proves that anything is possible in America,” West said, adding, “When I see an outsider infiltrate, I connect with that.”
In 2024, he endorsed Trump’s presidential candidacy.
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