One of the stranger stories to emerge from the 2016 election results was Kanye West’s declaration that he would have voted for Donald Trump, had he voted at all. Back in November, the Life Of Pablo artist admitted he wasn’t familiar with Trump’s platform, but he praised the now-president’s inability to form complete sentences—which he called “futuristic”—that’s become the M.O. for his administration. The two men had a tête-à-tête at Trump Tower not long after West professed his admiration, which the rapper walked back when Trump rolled out his Muslim ban earlier this year.
West was criticized by even his most ardent fans, who couldn’t believe he’d willingly stand around in an elevator lobby with a man who doesn’t have a good track record with any group outside of his billionaire’s club, a.k.a, his cabinet. But Run The Jewels’ Killer Mike doesn’t get what all the fuss is about. As he tells the U.K.’s Channel 4, West was just doing what so many other musicians have done before.
“It didn’t bother me, why wouldn’t you [meet the President]? Black people shouldn’t have permanent friends or enemies, they should have permanent interest,” Killer Mike said. The artist/activist pointed to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s meetings with Alabama governor George Wallace, who fought against school integration for years, as evidence that you can sway the minds of bigots on occasion.
If it wasn’t for Dr. Martin Luther King being willing to meet with people like [Governor] George Wallace, Wallace would have not have ended up—starting as a racist bigot and ending as a person who found God in some way, and appointed more blacks to his office than any other governor since.