Kanye West has fired back at Donald Trump, describing the ex-president as a known liar after he called the rapper a ‘deeply troubled man’ following their controversial Mar-a-Lago dinner.
The hip-hop star, who has been airing a series of vile anti-Semitic rants and racist outbursts, was hosted at Trump’s Florida estate alongside white nationalist Nick Fuentes last week.
The dinner caused outrage even among Republicans that the 45th president was entertaining Fuentes, a self-described homophobic white supremacist, while West has been dropped by major brands for his bigotry.
After the backlash, Trump tried to distance himself from the meeting and said he was only ‘trying to help a seriously troubled man’ in West.
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But the rapper, who dined last night with another of Kim Kardashian’s exes Ray J, along with Milo Yiannopoulos, has now hit back on the Timcast IRL podcast with Tim Pool, saying: ‘I would have never wanted to do anything that hurt Trump.
‘I’m on Trump’s side. Trump said things that hurt me. He lied about me, but I mean, he’s known for lying.
‘I went into the trenches for Trump … There is no one in my position that wore that hat.’
West, who later stormed out of the live interview, also revealed that alt-right commentator Milo Yiannopoulos had arranged the meeting with Trump and Fuentes.
After the dinner, Trump posted on Truth Social: ‘So I help a seriously troubled man, who just happens to be black, Ye (Kanye West), who has been decimated in his business and virtually everything else, and who has always been good to me, by allowing his request for a meeting at Mar-a-Lago, alone, so that I can give him very much needed ‘advice.”
He added: ‘He shows up with 3 people, two of which I didn’t know, the other a political person who I haven’t seen in years. I told him don’t run for office, a total waste of time, can’t win. Fake News went CRAZY!’
Speaking on Timcast, West defended himself after being dropped by major brands and losing a fortune over his anti-Semitism.
He said: ‘I thought I was more Malcolm X, but I found out I’m more MLK. As I’m getting hosed down every day by the press and financially, I’m just standing there.
‘When I found out they tried to put me in jail, it was like a dog was biting my arm, and I almost shed a tear. Almost. But I still walked in stride through it.’
Pool responded that ‘they have been extremely unfair to you’ but they then clashed over who he meant by ‘they’, with West saying Jewish people control the media, a common anti-Semitic trope.
West said: ‘We can’t say who “they” is.’
Pool replied: ‘Corporate press. I don’t use the word as the way, I guess, you guys use.’
Fuentes then added: ‘It is them, though, isn’t it?’
Pool replied: ‘No, it’s not.’
This prompted West to storm off the set, as he exclaimed: ‘What do you mean it’s not?’
Many senior Republicans, including ex-vice president Mike Pence, said it was ‘wrong’ of Trump to invite West and Fuentes to dinner.
‘President Trump was wrong to give a white nationalist, an antisemite and Holocaust denier, a seat at the table and I think he should apologize for it,’ Pence said in an interview with NewsNation that aired last night. ‘And he should denounce those individuals and their hateful rhetoric without qualification.’
But Pence also defended his former running mate – who he had a falling out with after he refused to overturn the 2020 election results when he chaired the joint session of Congress on January 6.
‘With that being said, as I point out in the book as well, I don’t believe Donald Trump is an Anti-Semite. I don’t believe he’s a racist or a bigot. I would not have been his vice president if he was,’ Pence continued.
He pointed out how Trump’s daughter Ivanka converted to Judaism when she married Jared Kushner, and that their three children are Jewish.
‘His grandchildren are Jewish,’ Pence said of Trump.
Pence indicated that he believed the ‘broad brush of attack that media leveled at him’ was unfair.
‘But I think the president demonstrated profoundly poor judgment in giving those individuals a seat at the table and as I said, I think he should apologize for it. He should denounce them without qualification,’ Pence added.
