Chance the Rapper rejected a “thank you” from President Donald Trump on Friday and explained that he supported Kanye West, who is under fire for expressing affection for the President, because the Chicago rapper is “family” — not because he agrees with his views.
“Kanye West has performed a great service to the Black Community - Big things are happening and eyes are being opened for the first time in Decades - Legacy Stuff! Thank you also to Chance and Dr. Darrell Scott, they really get it (lowest Black & Hispanic unemployment in history),” Trump tweeted Friday morning, reveling once again in the support he received from the hip-hop mogul.
Chance was already facing intense backlash from his fans for tweeting, “Black people don’t have to be democrats,” on Wednesday in an apparent defense of West.
“I’d never support anyone who has made a career out of hatred, racism and discrimination,” Chance tweeted Friday.
The Chicago rapper also explained that his statement about black people not having to be Democrats was not a reference to West’s support of Trump, but stems from “a personal issue with the fact that Chicago has had generations of democratic officials with no investment or regard for black schools, neighborhood or black lives.”
Meanwhile, West has remained defiant in the face of criticism, tweeting on Wednesday, “You don’t have to agree with trump but the mob can’t make me not love him.”
He also criticized former President Barack Obama and wrote, “Obama was in office for eight years and nothing in Chicago changed.”
A previous CNN analysis of Obama mentions in hip-hop lyrics reveals a divide in hip-hop over whether the nation’s first black president did enough to uplift black America. You can check it out here.