American rapper 50 Cent has become the latest celebrity to publicly criticize Kanye West after West recently posted a tweet saying he would run for the presidency in the upcoming U.S. election.
“We must now realize the promise of America by trusting God, unifying our vision and building our future. I am running for president of the United States,” West, 43, wrote on Twitter on July 4 with the hashtag #2020VISION.
When asked who he would be voting for in 2020, 50 Cent suggested West’s campaign was simply a “diversion” to “distract people” during a 13-minute interview with Billboard published on July 14.
“I’m going to contemplate running myself,” the Candy Shop hit-maker said sarcastically. “I’m going to run to create a diversion for someone else. The new thing is to run to create a diversion and distract people.
“Would you run against someone who just gave you $2 million?”
Though he did not explicitly expand on his comments, 50 Cent may have been referring to a Forbes article published last week, which reported that Yeezy — the fashion company West owns — had received a loan of more than US$2 million from U.S. President Donald Trump’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).
Though West claimed he was done supporting Trump, 73, and had retired his red Make America Great Again (MAGA) hat in a recent interview with Forbes, he’s been a longtime advocate of the U.S. president.
In the July 8 interview, West commended Trump for being “the closest president we’ve had in years to allowing God to still be part of the conversation.”
On top of that, the government’s PPP loan supposedly saved the loss of more than 100 jobs at Yeezy in the midst of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, according to Forbes.
In his interview, 50 Cent recounted the time former president Barack Obama called West a “jacka—” after he interrupted Taylor Swift‘s acceptance speech for Best Female Video at the 2009 MTV VMAs.
“Remember the last president called you a jacka—?” 50 Cent said. “Maybe that’s why you embrace this one.”
When asked if he was happy West had reportedly thrown away his MAGA hat, 50 Cent said: “How could you keep it in this climate?”
The rapper added: “(How could you keep it) without creating a storm of s—t for yourself? You have to take the hat off.”
On his reasonings for consistently wearing the MAGA hat in the past, West told Forbes, was that it was a “protest to the segregation of votes in the Black community,” adding that he likes “Trump hotels” and “the saxophones” in their lobbies.
“I’m not a political guy, but I have learned from Trump’s run that I don’t have to be apologetic … and whatever the f–k you say is fake news,” 50 Cent said.
Numerous reports speculating that West may have dropped out of the presidential race began circulating on Tuesday after one of the rapper’s political advisers said he was “out” of the race. The news came 10 days after West announced his presidential bid.
“He’s out,” Steve Kramer, a get-out-the-vote specialist, told the Intelligencer on Tuesday.
Though Kramer — who said he was hired to help West get on the Florida and South Carolina ballots — did not elaborate on his claim, he told the outlet that he would update them “once (he) gets all our stuff cancelled.”
As of this writing, Kramer’s claim that West is “out” of the political race has not been confirmed.