President Donald Trump hugs rapper Kanye West during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Oct. 11, 2018. Oliver Contreras - Pool/Getty Images
Hip-hop artist Kanye West touched on a range of hot-button topics in an Oct. 6 interview on “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” including why he donned a T-shirt emblazoned with the words “White Lives Matter” and revealing he received death threats for his embrace of former President Donald Trump.
The musician, also known as “Ye,” turned heads when during his Yeezy Season 9 collection presentation in Paris, France, on Oct. 3, he wore a T-shirt featuring the words “White Lives Matter.”
At the Paris event, West was joined by conservative commentator Candace Owens, who wore a matching T-shirt and later took to Twitter to share images of the garment, which featured the late Pope John Paul II on the front and the words “White Lives Matter” on the back.
The T-shirts sparked some controversy on social media, with Temple University professor and BET host Marc Lamont Hill calling West’s decision to wear the T-shirt “disgusting, dangerous, and irresponsible.”
In his interview with Tucker Carlson, West said his decision to wear the T-shirt came from a sense that it was the right thing to do and was based on his conviction that all life is precious.
“It’s using a gut instinct, a connection with God,” he said, adding that it was an expression of “a black man stating the obvious.”
“The answer to why I wrote ‘White Lives Matter’ on a shirt is because they do,” West said. “It’s the obvious thing.”
The phrase “white lives matter” originated in 2015 as a response to the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, which protested the deaths of black men at the hands of police. In 2020, BLM protests often turned violent with mobs vandalizing property and police vehicles.
West told Carlson that he received a threatening phone call over the T-shirt.
“I had someone call me last night and said anybody wearing a ‘white lives matter’ shirt is going to be green-lit. That means they are going to beat them up if I wear it. I’m like, you know, ‘Okay, green light me then,'” West said.
Ultrasound Lanyard
West also addressed why he was wearing a lanyard of his own design featuring a photograph of a baby’s ultrasound.
“It just represents life and pro-life,” the artist told Carlson, who then asked about people’s reaction to the lanyard.
West replied by saying he doesn’t care how people react to it as the decision to wear it is about his own self-expression.
“I care about the fact that there’s more black babies being aborted than born in New York City at this point. That 50 percent of black death in America is abortion. So I really don’t care about people’s response—I perform for an audience of one and that’s God,” West said.
On Backing Trump, MAGA Hat
West made waves when, during the 2016 and 2020 elections, he was regularly seen wearing the red “Make America Great Again” hat that is associated with Trump’s political movement.
In the interview with Carlson, West said wearing the MAGA hat made him a target.
“My so-called friends/handlers around me told me if I said that I liked Trump that my career would be over. That my life would be over,” Kanye said.
“They said stuff like people get killed for wearing a hat like that. They threatened my life. They basically said that I would be killed for wearing the hat,” he added.
President Donald Trump greets rapper Kanye West during a meeting in the Oval office of the White House in Washington on Oct. 11, 2018. Screenshot/AP
West also said that people tried to subject him to political manipulation through his ex-wife Kim Kardashian.
“Yes, there was some manipulation,” he said, adding, “Me not saying I like Trump was a form of manipulation.”
Asked why he liked Trump, West said it was because he saw the former president as an embodiment of conservative values.
“All the values, the conservative values just line up,” he said.
West also said he’s been subject to repeated attacks in the media.
“We are in a battle with the media, the majority of the media has a godless agenda,” he said.
Tom Ozimek
Reporter
Tom Ozimek is a senior reporter for The Epoch Times. He has a broad background in journalism, deposit insurance, marketing and communications, and adult education.
Kanye West Discusses Death Threats For Backing Trump, Why He Wore ‘White Lives Matter’ T-Shirt
Hip-hop artist Kanye West touched on a range of hot-button topics in an Oct. 6 interview on “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” including why he donned a T-shirt emblazoned with the words “White Lives Matter” and revealing he received death threats for his embrace of former President Donald Trump.
The musician, also known as “Ye,” turned heads when during his Yeezy Season 9 collection presentation in Paris, France, on Oct. 3, he wore a T-shirt featuring the words “White Lives Matter.”
In his interview with Tucker Carlson, West said his decision to wear the T-shirt came from a sense that it was the right thing to do and was based on his conviction that all life is precious.
“It’s using a gut instinct, a connection with God,” he said, adding that it was an expression of “a black man stating the obvious.”
“The answer to why I wrote ‘White Lives Matter’ on a shirt is because they do,” West said. “It’s the obvious thing.”
The phrase “white lives matter” originated in 2015 as a response to the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, which protested the deaths of black men at the hands of police. In 2020, BLM protests often turned violent with mobs vandalizing property and police vehicles.
West told Carlson that he received a threatening phone call over the T-shirt.
Ultrasound Lanyard
West also addressed why he was wearing a lanyard of his own design featuring a photograph of a baby’s ultrasound.“It just represents life and pro-life,” the artist told Carlson, who then asked about people’s reaction to the lanyard.
West replied by saying he doesn’t care how people react to it as the decision to wear it is about his own self-expression.
On Backing Trump, MAGA Hat
West made waves when, during the 2016 and 2020 elections, he was regularly seen wearing the red “Make America Great Again” hat that is associated with Trump’s political movement.In the interview with Carlson, West said wearing the MAGA hat made him a target.
“My so-called friends/handlers around me told me if I said that I liked Trump that my career would be over. That my life would be over,” Kanye said.
“They said stuff like people get killed for wearing a hat like that. They threatened my life. They basically said that I would be killed for wearing the hat,” he added.
West also said that people tried to subject him to political manipulation through his ex-wife Kim Kardashian.
“Yes, there was some manipulation,” he said, adding, “Me not saying I like Trump was a form of manipulation.”
Asked why he liked Trump, West said it was because he saw the former president as an embodiment of conservative values.
“All the values, the conservative values just line up,” he said.
West also said he’s been subject to repeated attacks in the media.
“We are in a battle with the media, the majority of the media has a godless agenda,” he said.
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