Kanye West spotted wearing his 'Make America Great Again' hat after pro-Trump tweets backlash
Rapper shocked public when he met with then president-elect at Trump Tower in December 2016
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Your support makes all the difference.Kanye West has been pictured wearing a red “Make America Great Again” baseball hat in California, amid a backlash over his tweets in support of Donald Trump.
The rapper strolled out of his office in Calabasas, Los Angeles, after a day of firing off controversial tweets – over 80 – some of which voiced support for the US president.
A day earlier the musician, who has voiced his support for Mr Trump in the past, posted a selfie wearing one of Mr Trump’s trademark hats, before revealing it was signed by the president.
In the image – captioned “we got love” – he is seen alongside two unidentified men.
After the selfie, West shared a close-up image of the autographed cap on Twitter, titling the photo: “My MAGA hat is signed.”
Earlier in the day, the 40-year-old tweeted: “You don’t have to agree with Trump, but the mob can’t make me not love him. We are both dragon energy. He is my brother.
“I love everyone. I don’t agree with everything anyone does. That’s what makes us individuals. And we have the right to independent thought.”
He continued: “If your friend jumps off the bridge, you don’t have to do the same. Ye being Ye is a fight for you to be you. For people in my life, the idea of Trump is pretty much a 50-50 split but I don’t tell a Hillary supporter not to support Hillary. I love Hillary too.”
An hour later, he tweeted that his wife Kim Kardashian West “wanted me to make this clear to everyone. I don’t agree with everything Trump does”.
Mr Trump responded to the rapper’s first tweet, which referred to the president as his “brother”. ”Thank you Kanye, very cool!” he tweeted.
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Later in the day, West shared an image of a message from hip-hop artist Chance the Rapper saying, “Black people don’t have to be democrats.”
West’s string of controversial tweets come as the rapper ends his social media break. Some have reached conclusions about the musician in the wake of his recent Twitter splurge – which has seen him pen erratic, philosophical, and meandering tweets – after being silent on social media for several months.
They have included pensive, introspective reflections such as “I’m 40 years old and I’m just now becoming my parents’ child”.
Kardashian West has weighed in on her husband’s Twitter tirades, addressing issues of mental health and criticising the media.
“To the media trying to demonise my husband let me just say this... your commentary on Kanye being erratic and his tweets being disturbing is actually scary,” she tweeted.
“So quick to label him as having mental health issues for just being himself, when he has always been expressive, is not fair.”
Referring to West’s thoughts on Mr Trump, Kardashian West said: “Most people (including myself) have very different feelings & opinions about this. But this is HIS opinion.
“I believe in people being able to have their own opinions, even if really different from mine. He never said he agrees with his politics.”
This is by no means the first time West, who recently split with his manager of three years Scooter Braun with no apparent explanation, has lent his backing to Mr Trump.
“I do love Donald Trump,” West told radio station Hot 97 on Monday.
West shocked onlookers when he met with the then-president-elect at Trump Tower in New York in December 2016.
The duo emerged from the 58-story skyscraper’s gold elevator together, and posed for photos for awaiting media. According to TMZ, the pair met for 15 minutes, and in that time West gave him an art book containing nude pictures.
When probed about what they discussed after the pair emerged from the meeting, Mr Trump said: “Just friends, and he’s a good man. We’ve been friends for a long time.”
Mr Trump serenely concluded: “We discussed life.”
Later in the day, the rapper tweeted that he met with Mr Trump to discuss “multicultural issues” including bullying, education and violence in his hometown of Chicago.
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