You know you had an interesting weekend when dressing up as a giant bottle of Perrier in front of millions of people was somehow not the most bonkers part of it.
Yes, in case you missed Saturday Night Live this week, here’s what the first musical performance of the show’s 44th season looked like:
That’s Kanye in the aforementioned Perrier get-up, accompanied by Lil Pump dressed up as a bottle of Fiji.
That bizarre performance (of a song ‘Ye penned for the PornHub Awards, no less) was briefly the talk of Twitter, but it was quickly overshadowed by even more bizarre behavior from MAGA culture’s second-most unpredictable mouthpiece.
Yes, Kanye is a well-known Trump supporter, and after the show, he went on a series of bizarre rants in praise of the president.
Unfortunately, his views weren’t always entirely coherent, and we think it’s safe to say no one will be mistaking the always-effervescent Yeezy for a bottle of Smart Water any time soon.
Things began to get political the moment the show ended.
Kanye unleashed an onstage rant that wasn’t aired during SNL’s broadcast but did make the rounds on social media shortly thereafter.
“The 13th Amendment is slavery in disguise … meaning it never ended … We are the solution that heals” he later tweeted, much to the bafflement of his followers.
In case, like Kanye, you were too busy daydreaming about dressing up as your favorite mineral water to pay attention in civics class, the 13th Amendment abolished slavery, which means it’s quite odd for Kanye to call for its repeal.
Of course, this is the guy who, just a few months ago, famously stated slavery was a “choice” and that blacks enslaved in America willingly took part in the system.
On Instagram, West into greater detail — but he ultimately left his followers just as confused.
“This [MAGA hat] represents good and America becoming whole again,” Kanye wrote.
“We will no longer outsource to other countries. We build factories here in America to create jobs. We will provide jobs for all who are free from prisons as we abolish the 13th amendment.”
Eventually, Kanye clarified his remarks in a way that actually made sense.
“Not abolish but. let’s amend the 13th amendment … We apply everyone’s opinions to our platform,” he tweeted on Sunday.
It seems Kanye would like to get rid of the portion of the amendment which stipulates that those who have been convicted of a crime can be forced to perform slave labor — and we applaud him for using his platform to address that vitally important issue.
We just wish he’d articulated his goals a bit more clearly the first time around.
It doesn’t look as though that clarification has done much to restore Kanye’s public image, nor did a tweet from Our Dumb President, in which he effusively praised Kanye for taking a stand:
“Like many, I don’t watch Saturday Night Live (even though I past hosted it) – no longer funny, no talent or charm,” Trump wrote.
“It is just a political ad for the Dems.
“Word is that Kanye West, who put on a MAGA hat after the show (despite being told “no”), was great. He’s leading the charge!”
Obviously, like every other situation involving Kanye and politics, this whole thing is exceedingly stupid, and West deserves the majority of the criticism he’s received.
But for the sake of nuance (which is generally frowned upon in 2018), we will say it’s a little upsetting to see Twitter’s legion of Angry White Folks grab their digital pitchforks every time a prominent black man dares to express views on race and politics that they don’t agree with.
Now, if you’ll excuse us, we’re gonna go hide from the angry extremists from both sides of the spectrum who are about to fill our comments section with fantasies about our untimely deaths.
