Conservatives Kanye West follows: Who's on the list?
Kanye West has been declaring his support for President Donald Trump, upsetting other celebrities and making headlines on a daily basis due to his controversial tweets and statements. On Tuesday, West sparked an uproar again when he said slavery "sounds like a choice." As his provocative public statements make headlines, some have noted that Mr. Trump is not the only conservative figure who seems to have an influence on the worldview of the "Life of Pablo" artist.
Here is a look at four Trump-supporting or conservative pundits the rapper is reading and watching:
1. Candace Owens. West follows only three people on Twitter: his wife, Kim Kardashian West, student activist Emma Gonzalez and black conservative pundit Candace Owens, who also serves as the communications director for Turning Point USA, a youth organization that educates young people about free markets and limited government. Owens founded former website Red Pill Black, which encouraged black people to switch parties and become Republicans.
She has called Black Lives Matters protesters "whiny toddlers" and wrote an op-ed for the Stamford Advocate titled "Black men getting shot by the police isn't about racism." She also has YouTube videos called "The Left Uses 'Racism' to Control Black Voters" and "The Left Thinks Black People Are Stupid." She tweeted last week that the NAACP is a "disgusting group." Recently, she has been echoing West's sentiments about slavery, quoting Harriet Tubman and likening black Democrats to slaves.
On Tuesday, Owens posted on Twitter, "'Now that I've been free, I know what a dreadful condition slavery is. I have seen hundreds of escaped slaves but I never saw one who was willing to go back and be a slave' -Harriet Tubman. I've seen black liberals go conservative, but never seen a black conservative go liberal."
West tweeted a version of that Harriet Tubman quote himself in response to the backlash over his slavery comments. (The fact-checking website Snopes.com points out there's no evidence Tubman ever actually said this.)
On April 21, West tweeted, "I love the way Candace Owens thinks." Owens responded and asked for a meeting. In the past several days, the two have been spending time together, and she accompanied him to the TMZ office.
Owens has been vocal about her support for West long before he gave her a shoutout online.
2. Ali Akbar Alexander. Conservative political consultant Ali Alexander Akbar, who identifies himself as black, Arab, and Southern Baptist, posts video monologues about politics and is vocal about his support for Mr. Trump. He appears on Cernovich News -- an outlet of conspiracy-minded blogger Mike Cernovich -- and identifies as "a free thinker," and "New Right" instead of "alt-right." He also calls himself a pro-black activist. West retweeted two videos from Alexander defending the rapper. Alexander told Vanity Fair's Hive that "Kanye's been watching my stuff for a while."
3. Jordan Peterson. University of Toronto professor and psychologist Jordan Peterson shuns the idea that women and minorities are oppressed, calling white privilege "a Marxist lie." He rejects the concept of gender fluidity and says Islamophobia is "a word created by fascists and used by cowards to manipulate morons." Kanye West tweeted a video of scrolling on TMZ with another tab open to a video by Peterson.
4. Scott Adams. Adams, who created the comic strip "Dilbert," announced that he was switching his endorsement from Hillary Clinton to Donald Trump on his website in 2016. He frequently refers to Mr. Trump as a "persuader" and skilled in "hypnosis." Adams recorded a video called "How Kanye West showed the way to the Golden Age. With Coffee." West retweeted the video. It does not appear that Adams identifies himself as Republican.
But West himself has said that he does not consider himself a conservative, even though he supports Mr. Trump. He said he simply refuses to "be enslaved by monolithic thought." He also retweets posts from liberal celebrities and figures.
