Kanye West's Twitter is now completely Donald Trump free. Here's what we know as to why.
What a time to be alive. Kanye West — once President Donald Trump's biggest-name celebrity proponent, who put his street cred on the line to call the president's campaign "absolutely genius" — has seemingly turned his back on the embattled commander in chief. And he did so right on the president's social media platform of choice.
A skim through Kanye West's highly curated and stylized Twitter will turn up exactly zero Donald Trump results, TMZ reported. The few tweets he posted after meeting with Trump in his tower to "discuss multicultural issues," as he wrote at the time, are now gone. The celebrity news site reported that West has been "super unhappy with the president's performance over his first two weeks in office," taking particular issue with the "Muslim ban and other actions."
Trump can likely consider himself unendorsed.
Why the change of heart?
Kanye has yet to speak on the matter directly — though fans are waiting with bated breath for him to do so. One can trace a small trail of his dissatisfaction through his wife's recent tweets and Instagram posts.
Kim Kardashian West has been an extremely vocal critic of Trump's Muslim ban. In late January, she tweeted out a simple roundup of "statistics" about how many Americans are killed by jihadist immigrants. According to data collected by the New American, more Americans are killed by far right-wing terrorists than immigrants.
She also posted in support of the Women's March on Washington on Jan. 22, honoring the men and women "determined to make this world a better place for our children."
Kanye hasn't been actively posting alongside his wife, but it's possible some of Kim's fervor has rubbed off on him.
West's meeting with Donald Trump has been a subject of continuing scrutiny since the election. In a recent interview with Mic, John Legend, who's released his music under West's GOOD Music label since 2004, criticized the meeting, saying:
I am a little concerned that it seems like whenever Trump wants to meet with black people, he picks celebrities he's seen on TV, rather than people who are experts in the field he says he's concerned about. I'd rather him meet with people who are experts on what's happening in our cities, what's happening with histories of poverty and segregation in certain communities, what's happening with our schools. Meet with experts on those issues. Don't meet with celebrities.
Donald Trump's relationship with West has also taken a few hit since their meeting, with Trump's own team throwing a little shade West's way during the lead-up to the inauguration. Tom Barrack, the chairman of the Presidential Inauguration Committee, insinuated West wasn't "typically and traditionally American" enough to perform during the official Inauguration Day ceremonies.
So much of the battle pre and post election really boils down to the meaning of those words "traditionally American" and when exactly America was great. It seems now the battle will continue without Kanye in Trump's corner.
Mic has ongoing Kanye West coverage. Follow our main Kanye hub here.
