The second installment of Kanye West’s interview with Fox Host Tucker Carlson capped off a controversial week for the rapper, who received widespread condemnation after he displayed T-shirts sporting the racist rallying cry “white lives matter” at his Monday.
West found safe harbor with primetime cable’s resident promoter of white nationalist ideology, and he was unapologetic about the ordeal. West told Carlson the design of the T-shirts stemmed from “a gut instinct, a connection to God, and just brilliance,” and that he thought wearing it “would be funny.”
In the second installment of the interview, West made a variety of explosive claims. He said his bipolar disorder had been wrongly diagnosed and was a result of his supposed inability to express his support for Donald Trump. He said his children and his ex-wife Kim Kardashian, are victims of indoctrination.
In one segment, West indicated that on the day of the Uvalde, Texas elementary school shooting he felt like he was “in the Truman show.”
“I felt like the people at The Gap knew [about the shooting] before it even happened, it was so in sync the information.” He subsequently clarified that he meant media companies quickly assembled a united narrative around the shooting, as well as stating that he saw a disparity between the media’s interest in the Uvalde killing as compared to weekly shootings in Chicago.
West perhaps realized he sounded uncomfortably similar to Infowars conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who has tortured parents of Sandy Hook shooting victims by suggesting it was fake. “Have I reached Alex Jones territory yet?” West asked Carlson.
Carlson replied: “No I think you’re telling the truth.”
West’s political ambitions crept into the interview. At one point he asserted that he would “eventually be president” and that national leaders should be looking to people like himself and Tesla Billionaire Elon Musk to help run the county.
The fallout of West’s endorsement of “white lives” matter messaging is likely to continue. Before the second portion of the interview aired, West posted several statements on Instagram blaming criticism of him on Jews. In a text exchange with rapper P. Diddy, West said that he would “show the Jews that told you to call me that no one can threaten or influence me.” The sports and apparel giant Adidas, partner in West’s Yeezy footwear line, has announced that its relationship with the rapper is under review “After repeated efforts to privately resolve the situation, we have taken the decision to place the partnership under review. We will continue to co-manage the current product during this period,” the company said in a statement.