Conservative Activists Candace Owens, Charlie Kirk Meet with Kanye West
First they were pals on Twitter. Now, rapper Kanye West has met face-to-face with conservative commentator Candace Owens, according to the Daily Mail.
West and Owens were pictured Sunday after their meeting at a Southern California Institute of Architecture show in Los Angeles, Hollywood Life reported. They were joined by Charlie Kirk, the founder of the conservative group Turning Point USA, for which Owens works.
Kanye West spotted meeting with Charlie Kirk and Candace Owens https://t.co/FwYlvrI6zJ pic.twitter.com/zRlen1zd2y
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) April 30, 2018
There were no immediate comments about the meeting, although West did post on Twitter a picture of a whiteboard with the words “family, school, education, culture, media and politics” and “How to create a mind” written on it.
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/991026871415402496
“Candace Owens wrote this at the Office yesterday,” West said in the tweet.
Free thinkers only https://t.co/Y0IvZeQDnm
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) April 30, 2018
Kirk tweeted a photo of the meeting with the comment, “Free thinkers only.”
Donald Trump Jr. tweeted that as a result of the meeting,”This should be interesting.”
Woah, looks like my pals @realcandaceO and @charlieKirk11 hanging with @kanyeWest yesterday. This should be interesting! 🤔 pic.twitter.com/a57WvclmCh
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) April 30, 2018
West ignited this most recent attempt at cross-cultural pollination a week ago when, after Owens shut down a Black Lives Matter protest at an event where she was speaking, West tweeted, “I love the way Candace Owens thinks.”
Owens immediately asked for a meeting with West, who last week tweeted a picture of himself wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat and also tweeted a rebuttal aimed at those who are knee-jerk critics of President Donald Trump.
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/989179757651574784
“You don’t have to agree with trump but the mob can’t make me not love him. We are both dragon energy. He is my brother. I love everyone. I don’t agree with everything anyone does. That’s what makes us individuals. And we have the right to independent thought,” West tweeted.
During a Michigan rally Saturday night, Trump gave West a shout-out.
“In all fairness, Kanye West gets it,” Trump said, according to CBS.
“He sees that African-American unemployment is the lowest in history,” Trump said. “You know, people are watching. That’s a very important thing he’s done for his legacy.”
In an Op-Ed for USA Today, Glenn Harlan Reynolds, a University of Tennessee law professor and a member of USA Today’s Board of Contributors, said West’s actions are notable because he is breaking the strictures of politics.
“Keeping people divided into tribes is an important part of politics, and making sure they don’t say things that might make people reconsider their tribalism threatens the whole feedlot. Hence the overwhelming reaction to anyone who threatens the system with individual thought,” Reynolds wrote.
“West is now under attack from other entertainers like Macy Gray and Snoop Dogg. But whether he caves or not, his challenge — and the response — has demonstrated how much of today’s politics is based on tribalism, and how threatening it is to the powers that be when people say nice things about the wrong people,” he wrote.
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