It is suddenly popular in this country to bash Kanye West, now that he’s publicly affirmed his support for President Donald Trump — and has even scored a lunch meeting with the president, which is scheduled for Thursday.
On Tuesday’s “CNN Tonight,” hosted by Don Lemon, the topic was Kanye West as a representative of the black community — and in the panel’s opinion, the rapper and entertainer does not measure up.
CNN commentator Bakari Sellers (shown above, second from left), host of the “Viewpoint with Bakeri” podcast, responded to the rapper’s scheduled meeting to discuss prison reform and job opportunities for ex-cons by basically calling West ignorant, as Biz Pac Review and others reported.
“Kanye West is what happens when Negroes don’t read,” Sellers told CNN host Don Lemon (above, far left).
Sellers talked about how West supposedly treats Trump, which is to “shower him with adulation,” before questioning his intelligence by saying several times that West doesn’t have the “depth” to talk about issues of importance to the black community.
“My issue with Kanye West is quite simple,” he said.
“It’s that anti-intellectualism simply isn’t cool. The issues as you stated that they’re going to talk about are issues that are central issues in many African-American communities.”
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“They’re very important issues,” Sellers continued. “But the fact is we’re not sending Kanye West to the White House to talk about these issues because he can’t. He does not have the depth to [do so].”
He pointed out that West didn’t know what STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) programs were, before saying, “Kanye West is what happens when Negroes don’t read, and we have this now, and Donald Trump is going to use it and pervert it.”
Lemon and most of the panel laughed at this comment; panelist Scott Jennings (above, far right), a political appointee in George W. Bush’s administration, shook his head bemusedly, a slight grin on his face.
“It’s a Chris Rock reference, by the way, Scott,” said panelist Tara Setmayer (above, second from right), a CNN political commentator and former GOP operative.
Setmayer then reminded viewers of Kanye West’s criticism that George W. Bush “didn’t like black people.”
“Now all of a sudden Kanye, because he’s put on a MAGA hat and he’s an attention whore like the president — he’s all of a sudden now the model spokesperson. He’s the token Negro of the Trump administration?”
Setmayer also found humor in, as she put it, “all of these white people behind Donald Trump clapping away at the name of Kanye West.”
“Now all of a sudden Kanye, because he’s put on a MAGA hat and he’s an attention whore like the president — he’s all of a sudden now the model spokesperson,” she said. “He’s the token Negro of the Trump administration?”
“This is ridiculous,” she continued. “And no one should be taking Kanye West seriously. He clearly has issues. He’s already been hospitalized. You know, not to trivialize mental health issues, but obviously Kanye has taken a turn in a very strange way.”
See the video below for more on this.
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