Kanye West Tells GQ That He Plans on Voting For Trump in 2020

Rapper Kanye West revealed that he plans on voting for President Donald Trump's re-election in 2020 in a new interview.

Speaking with GQ,West said that even though he did not vote in 2016 (as he told a San Jose audience during his Saint Pablo tour), he would vote for Trump in 2020. West said that he planned on voting for Trump, and wouldn't listen to people who told him not to.

"I'm definitely voting this time. And we know who I'm voting on. And I'm not going to be told by the people around me and the people that have their agenda that my career is going to be over. Because guess what: I'm still here," West told GQ. "I was told my career would end if I wasn't with her [Hillary Clinton]. What kind of campaign is that, anyway? That's like if Obama's campaign was 'I'm with black.' What's the point of being a celebrity if you can't have an opinion? Everybody make their own opinion! You know?"

When reporter Will Welch asked Yeezy about his support for Trump, specifically in the context of his "Make America Great Again" slogan, West expressed his thoughts that the country had improved since President Barack Obama was in office. "It's better now than when Obama was in office. They don't teach you in school about buying property. They teach you how to become somebody's property," West said.

The "Runaway" rapper also likened his support for the president to freedom fighters protesting during the civil rights movement. "Both my parents were freedom fighters, and they used to drink from fountains they were told they couldn't drink from, and they used to sit in restaurants where they were told they couldn't eat from," he said. "They didn't fight for me to be told by white people which white person I can vote on."

In a way, West also denounced his 2005 statement criticizing then-President George W. Bush for his response to Hurricane Katrina. "'George Bush doesn't care about black people' is a victim statement. This white person didn't do something for us. That is stemmed in victim mentality," West said. "Every day I have to look in the mirror like I'm Robert De Niro and tell myself, 'You are not a slave.' As outspoken as I am, and the position that I am in, I need to tell myself."

When Welch explained that people were wondering how West could go from making the "George Bush doesn't care about black people statement" to wearing a MAGA hat, West put the blame on the media. "Black people are controlled by emotions through the media. The media puts musicians, artists, celebrities, actors in a position to be the face of the race, that really don't have any power and really are just working for white people," he said. "I am the founder of a $4 billion organization, one of the most Google-searched brands on the planet, and I will not be told who I'm gonna vote on because of my color."