President Donald Trump thanked rapper Kanye West for “doubling” his support among African Americans after West posted a photo of himself wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat on Twitter last week.
“Kanye West must have some power because you probably saw I doubled my African-American poll numbers,” Trump said during a speech to members of the National Rifle Association Friday, reports NBC News. “We went from 11 to 22 in one week.”
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Trump said some pollsters have questioned the results of the poll, but added, “We’ve come a long way. Thank you, Kanye, thank you!” Trump added.
Trump was likely referring to an April 29 poll published by Reuters. The poll shows Trump with a 71 percent disapproval rating among African American men, with a 22 percent approval rating. That is double the April 15 poll, which showed Trump with just an 11 percent approval rating among the same group.
However, Reuters only 171 African American men responded to the question. Trump’s approval rating among African American women is just 9.3 percent among those polled.
Overall, the poll showed Trump with a 41.4 percent approval rating from 2,685 respondents.
On April 25, West shocked his fans by posting a photo showing him wearing a red “Make America Great Again” hat with two other men, one of whom appeared to be making an alt-right gesture. West also posted a photo of his hat signed by the president.
Later, West wrote, “My wife [Kim Kardashian] just called me and she wanted me to make this clear to everyone. I don’t agree with everything Trump does. I don’t agree 100% with anyone but myself.”
However, West’s new single “Ye Vs. The People,” which features T.I., includes West continuing to show support for Trump.
“Make America Great Again had a negative perception/I took it, wore it, rocked it, gave it a new direction,” West rapped, adding, “See, that’s the problem with this damn nation/All blacks gotta be Democrats, man/We ain’t made it off the plantation.”
West also sparked controversy by telling TMZ slavery was “a choice.” After seeing the media outcry, West insisted he was being “attacked for presenting new ideas” and called his comment “just an idea.”
During his interview with TMZ, West said his love of Trump was more symbolic than anything else.
“I just love Trump,” West said. “That’s my boy. You know, so many rappers — you look at a video of Snoop Dogg lovin’ Trump, but then he get in the office and now they don’t love him. Trump is one of rap’s favorite people.”
Photo credit: Getty
