Kanye West visited an Apple store in Washington after visiting the White House on Thursday, Oct. 11, delivering an impromptu speech from atop a table.
Pictures from the scene, including some from RNS reporter Jack Jenkins, show the singer and businessman taking pictures with customers before standing on the table and giving a “keynote” speech.
West told the assembled crowd, many of whom were snapping pictures as he spoke, about how he'd had a hat made with an updated slogan saying “Make America Great” without the word “Again.”
President Donald Trump’s official gear is often adorned with the slogan “Make America Great Again.”
West told people that the “Again” part makes some black people upset because they feel like America has never been great for them, so he’s trying to get the updated slogan to catch on, according to Jenkins.
West said that Trump wore the hat he made during their meeting on Oct. 11, when West and NFL Hall of Famer went to the White House to discuss criminal reform, bringing manufacturing to Chicago, and other issues.
President Donald Trump meets with rapper Kanye West (R) in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on Oct. 11, 2018. Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images
During a press conference before their meeting, West told reporters about the slogan: “So the word ‘again’—it doesn’t hurt us because the idea of racism and slavery, different things; it hurts us because we need to focus on who we are now, today, I believe.”
West said that he hopes the president and his detractors can find some common ground.
“I would love to see, at the Super Bowl, Trump wearing the ‘Make America Great’ hat; Colin [Kaepernick] wearing the ‘Make America Great,’ and showing that we can bend a bit on this side, we can bend a bit on this side, and we can learn how to be malleable in the infinite universe that we are and the loving beings that we are,” he said.
After telling people about “Make America Great,” West told people in the Apple store that he was heading to Africa and exited the store.
