Kanye West raised eyebrows last November when he said he would have voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election. The following month, he met with Trump to reportedly discuss an ambassador role within his administration. As you’d expect, Kanye’s decision to meet with Trump was met with major backlash, but you won’t find Killer Mike criticizing the Chicago rapper/producer for the move.
During a Run the Jewels interview with Channel 4 in the U.K., Mike was asked how he felt about Kanye meeting with Trump, and he didn’t mince words. “Didn’t bother me,” he replied, and followed up with a show of support for Kanye’s decision to meet with the president. “Why wouldn’t you?”
“Black people shouldn’t have permanent friends or enemies,” he continued. “They should have permanent interests.” Mike also shared historical context behind his words. “If it wasn’t for Dr. Martin Luther King being willing to meet with people like Governor George Wallace, George Wallace would not have ended up starting a racist bigot, he ended a person that had found God in some way, appointed more blacks to his office than any other governor since him.”
Mike later clarified that “a musician meeting with a presidential candidate isn’t important to me,” and that he placed more weight on Jim Brown’s meeting with Trump. “Jim Brown, for the last 50 years, has fought against the oppression of all people. Him sitting with President Trump was a significant thing for me, because I know on the other side of the table he was telling the truth.”
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