Politics

Trump Was Against Kanye Before He Was for Him

Trump’s Beautiful, Dark, Twisted Fantasy

In 2009, Trump called for a boycott—a freaking boycott—of all things Kanye West. Why?

articles/2015/09/03/trump-was-against-kanye-before-he-was-for-him/150903-swin-trump-kanye-tease_icnyff
Lucas Jackson / Reuters

If Donald J. Trump wins in 2016, his next opponant could potentially be Kanye West in the 2020 presidential election.

American politics has never been better.

Still, Trump insisted during a press conference on Thursday he has no ill will toward his possible political rival.

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“I’ll never say bad [things] about [Kanye West],” Trump said. “You know why? Because he loves Trump. He loves Trump. He goes around saying, ‘Trump is my all-time hero.’ He says it to everybody.”

(West’s rep did not get back to us on whether or not this is even remotely true.)

West’s emotions regarding Trump are less clear. However, the rapper’s 2010 song “So Appalled” includes the line, “Donald Trump takin’ dollars from y’all.”

Anyway, Trump has been on a praise-Kanye kick lately, given him his blessing for #Kanye2020. But Donald—Kanye relations weren’t always this harmonious.

In 2009, Trump called for a boycott—a freaking boycott—of all things Kanye West. Why? Because Kanye was mean to Taylor Swift.

Who could forget this?

Widespread condemnation was swift following the VMAs incident, and West became the “most hated man in showbusiness” for ruining Tay-Tay’s evening. The next day, TMZ asked Trump for his thoughts. The Donald did not pull his punches.

Trump told TMZ that West’s behavior was “disgusting,” and advocated boycotting West “so this kind of thing doesn’t happen” ever again.

“He couldn’t care less about Beyoncé,” Trump continued. “It was grandstanding to get attention.”

Harsh. The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment regarding his past censure of Kanye.

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