Some six weeks after
Kanye West made pro-Trump comments on "
Saturday Night Live" and in the
Oval Office, his wife, reality star
Kim Kardashian says that the rapper was drawn more to the president's bold personality than his politics.
In fact, she said West is "very not political, actually. He just happens to like
Donald Trump’s personality but doesn’t know about the politics," adding, "He will always say he was friendly with (Trump) before, and he’s the same person and friendly with him now."
Speaking with CNN commentator Van Jones at a criminal justice reform summit sponsored by Variety and Rolling Stone, she acknowledged, "I know it’s very confusing because when you see someone wearing a red hat, you would think that they are supporting that," she added, "but he’s just fighting for free thought and the freedom to like a person, even if it’s not the popular decision.”
West's "SNL" and White House rants, she said, have often been "misconstrued" and stem from her husband's inability to publicly express political and social ideas the same way he does in private, an observation she made last month in a podcast with Jones.
When Jones suggested Kardashian West was attempting to be "a Kanye translator, in a way," the "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" star was quick to agree: "He does need a translator, for real.
"I'm around him all the time, so I know what he talks about at home." The problem, she explained, comes up in public. "I'm like, 'Wait, you just said basically the opposite of what you just showed out there.' "
But Kardashian West also doesn't like to hector her husband in public.
“After he went to the White House or has been outspoken, I could have easily been on social media and corrected him,” she said. “But I believe people have their own journeys. And I know his heart, so I know that one day what he’s been trying to say will come out. It’s taken a little long so I’m jumping in and helping him out, but I just know his heart so I never really stress too much.”
Overall, she said, "I think what my husband fights for – and again, he's not the best communicator at explaining it – but what he fights for is the right to like what he wants to like, even if it’s different from what you like," Kardashian West said, clarifying the "I Love It" rapper's intent. "He never said, ‘OK, I know what’s going on with immigration, and I know this and I know that.’ If he really knew, he would feel very compassionate about it."
And it's West's devotion to personal authenticity that his wife admires.
"As much as I won't agree with something, I do respect he's always who he is, no matter if it's popular, no matter if it's the cool thing to do. He's always himself," she answered when asked why she loves him.
"I might, inside, just want to be his translator all the time," she continued, "but I do respect that he has his own path, and he is his own person, and he has his own opinions."