Report: Kanye Gets Special White House Invitation
President Donald Trump and his son-in-law, senior adviser Jared Kushner, will reportedly be meeting with rapper Kanye West at the White House later this week.
The New York Times initially cited two sources with knowledge of the invitation on Tuesday.
West’s meeting with Kushner is set to take place Thursday prior to a planned lunch with Trump.
The Times’ sources indicate he wants to discuss issues including jobs in his hometown of Chicago and employment opportunities for those with a criminal history.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders confirmed the meeting, according to a pool report quoted in The Hill.
“Kanye West is coming to the White House to have lunch with President Trump and he will also meet with Jared Kushner,” she said.
Sanders also provided a broad overview of the meeting’s scope.
“Topics of discussions will include manufacturing resurgence in America, prison reform, how to prevent gang violence, and what can be done to reduce violence in Chicago,” she said.
Kushner, who has made criminal justice reform a priority in his advisory role, met with Trump and Kim Kardashian, West’s wife, in May to discuss the case of a woman serving a life sentence for a nonviolent drug conviction.
Trump commuted Alice Marie Johnson’s sentence a short time after that meeting.
West, who has turned off many of his own fans with his frequent endorsement of the president, most recently made waves with an unplanned rant at the end of a “Saturday Night Live” taping earlier this month.
The entertainer has since shut down social media accounts amid continued backlash for his defense of Trump and claims that he was “bullied” by cast members and staff when he wore his Trump campaign hat.
During the following week’s episode, cast member Pete Davidson rebutted West’s account, saying that West wore his “Make America Great Again” cap all week with no issues.
“I wish I bullied you,” Davidson said, addressing the previous week’s musical guest. “I wish I would have suggested that it might upset some people — like your wife, or every black person ever.”
Trump praised the rapper’s performance during a political rally days later.
“After years of Democrats failing and abandoning African-Americans, Republicans are delivering for African-Americans like never before,” he said. “We’re doing the job. And you saw that the other night with Kanye West. How good was Kanye West?”
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