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Kanye West recently said his ex-wife Kim Kardashian, told him that the "Make America Great Again" (MAGA) cap that he sported in support of former President Donald Trump exuded "small d*** energy."
West made headlines back in 2018 when he made an appearance on Saturday Night Live sporting one of the distinctive red hats emblazoned with the acronym of former Trump's campaign slogan, "Make America Great Again."
The rapper and fashion designer, who has legally changed his name to Ye, made an appearance on Sunday's installment of the Drink Champs podcast, during which he shared a series of opinions and allegations.
]"Trump supporters, they think it's nice that a black guy supports Trump," West said regarding to the reaction to his support for Trump. "But it's like, would they really support me when I do [run for president]? Legally, they said I'm not allowed to say what's happening in 2024. But all those people that love me when I wore the hat, would they support me?"
"I've got to say something about the hat," West, a 2020 presidential candidate, went on. "That's one of the things that really drove me to the edge—the MAGA hat. Imagine your own wife telling you, 'Oh, the hat's small d*** energy.'"
West's MAGA hat claim is one of many the musician made during his Drink Champs interview. Newsweek has looked at other moments during the podcast episode.
Ye Claims George Floyd Overdosed
During his appearance on the podcast, West claimed that George Floyd's death was caused by a fentanyl overdose rather than police brutality.
Speaking with Drink Champs hosts N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN, West spoke about watching Candace Owens' new documentary The Greatest Lie Ever Sold: George Floyd and the Rise of BLM, the premiere of which he attended last week.
Written by Owens, the documentary re-examines the "racially-divided aftermath" of the death of Floyd, a Black man who died while being restrained by then Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in May 2020. His death sparked global protests and debates about racial injustice and police brutality.
The death of Floyd drew worldwide outrage after a video circulated online showing Chauvin kneeling on Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes as he gasped for breath.
However, West alleged during the interview that Floyd died as a result of having taken fentanyl, a synthetic opioid used as a pain medication and noted for its potency.
"They hit [Floyd] with the fentanyl. If you look, the guy's knee wasn't even on his neck like that," said the rapper and fashion designer. "They said he screamed for his mama; mama was his girlfriend. It's in the documentary."
Despite West's assertions in his interview, Floyd's death was ruled by the Hennepin County medical examiner's office as a homicide caused by "cardiopulmonary arrest" complicated by "restraint and neck compression."
Ye Claims Corey Gamble Is a Clinton 'Plant'
West also took aim at Corey Gamble, the partner of Kardashian's mother, Kris Jenner, bizarrely claiming that the talent manager is a "plant" for Bill and Hillary Clinton with an agenda to "control" the power of his ex-wife's family.
The Clintons, got them trying to get people to get vaccinated," said West. "I know somebody, I'm not going to say his name, where Kim and Kris got on the phone with them trying to get them to push the vaccination to Black people."
This allegation, West said, proved "how in-tuned and how aligned with the Clintons that the Kardashians were through Corey. Corey is a plant. Corey was Puff Daddy's nanny, manny. Then he was with Justin Bieber when Justin Bieber got in trouble.
"And then when [Caitlyn Jenner, Kris' ex-husband] did a transition... he popped up. Now he's running around like he's Kylie [Jenner's] daddy. But he's there for the agenda and control and the power of that family."
Ye Claims He's Not Antisemitic
Despite being locked out of his Instagram and Twitter accounts after his comments about Jewish people, West argued that he is not antisemitic because he's also a Jew as the "blood of Christ."
He then proceeded to say that Jewish people controlled the media and entertainment industries and blamed "Jewish Zionists" for articles about Kardashian and her former boyfriend Pete Davidson.
"Jewish people have owned the Black voice," he said. "Either it's through us wearing the Ralph Lauren shirt, or it's all of us being signed to a record label, or having a Jewish manager, or being signed to a Jewish basketball team, or doing a movie on a Jewish platform like Disney. I respect what the Jewish people have done, and how they brought their people together."
Ye Addresses "Deaf Con 3 Tweet
West was locked out of his Twitter account this month after tweeting he had plans to go "death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE. The funny thing is I actually can't be Anti Semitic because black people are actually Jew also You guys have toyed with me and tried to black ball anyone whoever opposes your agenda."
During his Drink Champs interview, West confirmed that he actually meant DEFCON, a reference to the U.S. military defense alert state. "DEFCON is actually that you're preparing to protect yourself," West said.
He also claimed that four concerts he had been scheduled to perform at Los Angeles' So-Fi Stadium were canceled by the venue overs over the tweet.
"They been f***ing with me for too long," West said. "They put the crazy narrative out there."
"Once they cancel four So-Fi Stadium [shows] because of what's classified as wrong-think... because it's very important to have the Black vote in groupthink, and not separate from the thought and being completely in line with the left, the Jewish media and the Chinese," the star said.
Ye Calls Drake "Greatest Rapper Ever"
Elsewhere in his interview, West called onetime foe Drake "the greatest rapper ever," following the end of their long-running war of words.
"I don't apologize about it," said West after heaping praise on his fellow hip-hop star, with whom he teamed up for a Los Angeles benefit concert in December.
The infamous feud between the pair had previously gone on for years as they traded insults as far back as 2010.
Newsweek has reached out to representatives of Kardashian, Jenner, Gamble, Floyd's family and So-Fi Stadium for comment.
About the writer
Ryan Smith is a Newsweek Senior Pop Culture and Entertainment Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on ... Read more