Kanye West‘s Trump support is very real, a source tells PEOPLE.
“He loves Donald Trump; he is convinced that Trump is going to change America for the better and thinks that he’s already done an amazing job,” the source says of the 41-year-old rapper. “He talks about Trump all the time; he watches the news and finds times when Trump is being treated unfairly, and he talks about them all the time.”
West has been vocal about his support for the President for years.
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Most recently, the Grammy winner — who has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and recently revealed he is “off medication” — used his appearance on Saturday Night Live as a platform to praise the President.
“It’s so many times that I talk to a white person about this, and they say, ‘How could you support Trump? He’s racist.’ Well if I was concerned about racism, I would have moved out of America a long time ago,” West — who was wearing a “Make America Great Again” cap — said in a speech at the end of Saturday’s show, which didn’t air on television.
“We don’t just make our decisions off of racism. I’ma break it down to you right now: If someone inspires me and I connect with them, I don’t have to believe in all their policies,” the rapper added.
West’s family — including wife Kim Kardashian West — were in the audience during his rant. A source at the time told PEOPLE the pro-Trump speech was “embarrassing” for the reality TV mogul, and another insider says she “did not support him” in the 2016 election.
“Kim did not support Trump, and her family didn’t support him,” the insider told PEOPLE on Tuesday. “But she knows that she has a very rare opportunity to have the ear of the President, and she has some things that she’s very passionate about, and is willing to meet with him to talk about the things she believes.”
Indeed, earlier this year, Trump commuted the sentence of Alice Marie Johnson, whom Kardashian West advocated for in a White House meeting.
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“She believes that she can meet with Trump without being a die-hard supporter,” the insider added. “She has a message for him, and goes to talk to him. It’s a very rare opportunity. She’s smart enough to use it.”
After West’s impromptu SNL outburst, a slew of celebrities — including Chris Rock and Chris Evans — have slammed him for his political leanings.
“Trump becoming our President was a loss for the country but your support of him is a loss for the culture,” singer Lana Del Rey — who sang at Kimye’s 2014 wedding rehearsal dinner at Versailles — wrote in a scathing Instagram post on Sunday. “I can only assume you relate to his personality on some level. Delusions of grandeur, extreme issues with narcissism — none of which would be a talking point if we weren’t speaking about the man leading our country.”
Del Rey, 33, added: “If you think it’s alright to support someone who believes it’s OK to grab a woman by the pussy just because he’s famous — then you need an intervention as much as he does — something so many narcissists will never get because there just isn’t enough help for the issue.”
