Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Kanye West Visits White House, Delivers Speech at Georgetown Apple Store

AMEENERR TWITTER Rapper Kanye West delivered an impromptu speech at the Georgetown Apple Store after a White House meeting with President Donald Trump Oct. 11.

Controversial rapper Kanye West delivered a speech on a table at the Georgetown Apple Store last Thursday afternoon, while visiting Washington, D.C., to meet with President Donald Trump.

It was unclear if West planned to give the speech or if it was an impromptu event, Sarah Hirshorn (COL ’20), who was in the store at the time, wrote in an email to The Hoya.

“Kanye was pacing around the back of the store,” Hirshorn wrote. “A few people had their phones out to take photos and videos but the majority of people didn’t seem to care or know what was going on!”

Jack Jenkins, a national reporter for the Religion News Service who was in the store at the time, chronicled the moment on Twitter.

Apple Store patrons gathered around West with phones in hand while he gave a “keynote,” Jenkins tweeted.

West said he made a “Make America Great” hat for Trump, and showed the crowd a picture of him wearing it, Jenkins said.

The original slogan is insulting to black people, West said, according to CNN breaking news reporter Caroline Kelly.

“‘It hurts us as people, specifically black people, the idea, because we say, was America ever great for us?’” Kelly tweeted.

West declared he was heading to Africa before leaving the store, according to Jenkins.

West has delayed his forthcoming studio album “Yandhi” past its expected Sept. 29 release date and is traveling to Africa to record it. The album is set to drop on Black Friday, West said in an interview with TMZ.

Apple Store employees declined to comment on the incident, but one said that West was, “man, I think just being extra,” Jenkins tweeted.

Georgetown’s Apple Store has a history of celebrity sightings. In September, its Genius bar helped Special Counsel Robert Mueller with his MacBook Pro, according to Business Insider. In March 2017, a woman confronted Sean Spicer in the store, calling him a fascist. Back in 2015, Apple CEO Tim Cook visited the day the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus launched.

West’s impromptu speech followed his meeting with Trump in the Oval Office earlier that day. The pair discussed, among other things, North Korea, the 13th Amendment, prison reform, police brutality and crime in Chicago, according to the Oct. 11 White House transcript.

Former Cleveland Browns running back Jim Brown also attended the meeting. Brown has been noted for his conservative views, including his opposition to fellow players kneeling for the national anthem, and for his service work in inner cities with his Amer-I-Can program.

Trump lauded West for his contributions, commenting on the visibility of the meeting, according to an Oct. 11 transcript of the meeting.

“And what Kanye is doing has been incredible,” Trump said. “All over the world they’re talking about this. And I have to tell you, I had important meetings today with senators and with everything. Nobody cared. They wanted this meeting. This is the meeting.”

During the meeting, West pitched his idea for replacing Air Force One with the iPlane 1, a theoretical hydrogen-powered aircraft, which he said would bring jobs back to the United States. It is unclear if his visit to the Georgetown Apple Store is connected to his suggestion at the White House meeting that Apple should produce the iPlane.

West said at the White House meeting black people prioritize owning name brand items over land, in response to a reporter’s question on Trump’s view of the black community.

“I think that with blacks and African-Americans, we really get caught up in the idea of racism over the idea of industry. We say if people don’t have land, they settle for brands,” West said. “We want Polo-sporting Obama again. We want a brand more than we want land. Because we’ve haven’t known how it feels to actually have our own land and have ownership of our own blocks.”

West also argued that black-on-black violence is similarly dangerous to police brutality during the White House meeting.

“You know, we talk about police murders, which we definitely have to discuss, and we have to bring nobility to the police officers and make — the police officers are just like us,” West said in the White House meeting. “But there’s this whole hate-building, right?  And that’s a major thing about racial tension.”

West has drawn criticism in the past for his support of Trump. During a Sept. 29 appearance on “Saturday Night Live,” he gave an impromptu pro-Trump speech on stage after the show, while wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat. Many in the crowd booed West, though one supporter clapped, according to The Washington Post. The speech did not air.

The Oval Office meeting ended with a hug between West and Trump.

“I love this guy right here,” West said of Trump. “Let me give this guy a hug right here.”

West did not respond to a request for comment regarding his visit to the Georgetown Apple Store over Twitter.

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