Democratic strategist Chuck Rocha said Thursday that the only reason rapper Kanye West is going to the White House is to get publicity.
“Kanye is about Kanye, and this is a good way for Kanye to get good press,” Rocha, the founder and president of Solidarity Strategy, told Hill.TV’s Krystal Ball and Buck Sexton on “Rising.”
“If he’s working on criminal justice reform, I’m going to support him, and I’m going to lift up his voice because it’s a huge thing with me,” he continued. “But I still think at the end of the day he’s just another entertainer who wants to see a headline, and him going to the White House, and being there is a good thing for his Twitter followers.”
President Trump is set to have lunch with West on Thursday, along with former football player Jim Brown to discuss criminal justice reform, among other issues.
West is also set to meet with Trump’s adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner before having lunch with the president.
West’s wife, reality television star Kim Kardashian West, has also met with Trump and Kushner to discuss prison reform.
Kardashian West met with Trump in the Oval Office in May to urge him to pardon Alice Marie Johnson, a grandmother serving a life sentence in prison for a nonviolent drug offense.
West has become one of Trump’s most vocal celebrity supporters.
The musician delivered a pro-Trump speech following his appearance on the season premiere of “Saturday Night Live” last month while wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat onstage.
— Julia Manchester
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