Obama's insults may be a bond between Trump, Kanye West

Then-President-elect Donald Trump and Kanye West pose for a photo in the lobby of Trump Tower in New York City, Dec. 13, 2016.  (Associated Press)

Kanye West’s unexpected declaration of support for President Donald Trump this week set social media ablaze.
Many Trump critics were quick to doubt the sincerity of West, having in mind a history West’s public antics.
West, for instance, once famously blurted out on live television, “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.” He also famously interrupted Taylor Swift at an awards event.
And less than two weeks after the 2016 presidential election, West told a live audience at a show in San Jose, Calif., “If I would’ve voted, I would have voted on Trump.”

“If I would’ve voted, I would have voted on Trump.”

The response was meet with audible boos.
But a connection between the West and Trump had been formed even earlier: Both men had been publicly insulted by President Barack Obama.
In West's case, it happened after that awards event, the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards.

Kanye West performs during the closing ceremony for the Pan Am Games, in Toronto, July 26, 2015.  (Reuters)

West ran up onstage, snatched the mic from Swift and said, “Yo Taylor, I’m really happy for you … but Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time!”
When asked about West's behavior before a TV interview, Obama, famed for his measured rhetoric, said:
“I thought that was really inappropriate. ... He’s a jackass.”

“I thought that was really inappropriate. ... He’s a jackass.”
- President Barack Obama, speaking about Kanye West in 2009

In Trump’s case, Obama devoted a segment of his speech at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in 2011 to insulting Trump for exacerbating the rumor that Obama was not born in the U.S.

President Barack Obama's jokes targeted Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner in 2011.  (Reuters)

Trump was seated in the audience.
“I know that’s he’s taken some flak lately – no one is prouder to put this birth-certificate matter to rest than the Donald. And that’s because he can finally get back to the issues that matter, like: Did we fake the moon landing? What really happened in Roswell? And – where are Biggie and Tupac?”
On Friday, West released a song titled “Ye vs. the People,” in which he doubled-down on his support for Trump.
“I know Obama was Heaven-sent,” West raps, “But ever since Trump won, it proved that I could be president.”