S.N.L.: Watch Kanye West Go on a Bizarre Pro-Trump Rant

After Ariana Grande cancelled her appearance as S.N.L. season premiere musical guest late in the game, producer Lorne Michaels reached out to someone he can always count on to make headlines. Kanye West—who has appeared on six previous episodes as well as the 40th anniversary special—showed up to perform “I Love It” and “K.T.S.E..” Then, in lieu of the traditional cast farewell over the closing credits, West grabbed his MAGA hat and the mic once more for a third song: “Ghost Town.” Twitter was already digging into Kanye for both the hat and his lackluster performances on those songs when footage of the singer that didnt make it to air cropped up online. After he finished his final song, video of West captured by a laughing, astonished Chris Rock popped up on Instagram. The singer can be seen rambling about the Democrats, Get Outs “The Sunken Place,” and Donald Trump.

West spoke about the criticism hes received for supporting Trump: “So many times I talk to a white person and [they] say, How could you like Trump, hes racist? Well, if I was concerned about racism I would have moved out of America a long time ago.” He touched on the “democrat” agenda of taking “fathers out the home and promote welfare.” He also pushed back on the widespread Get Out memes about his friendship with Trump: “You wanna see the sunken place? Okay, Ima listen to yall now. Ima put my superman cape on, because this means you cant tell me what to do… You want the world to move forward? Try love.” But “love” doesnt exactly describe the reaction West is receiving online.

Behind West in the footage you can see several cast members and host Adam Driver looking at times confused and taken aback. Head writer Colin Jost starts shaking his head and laughing as did Rock who at one point seems to whisper “my god” from behind his phones camera. According to an eyewitness who spoke with Variety, “The entire studio fell dead silent“ as West carried on. In conclusion, West turned around and thanked the cast for the platform “even though some of yall dont agree.”

No matter your political affiliation, it was a truly bizarre way to end an already bizarre evening.

But this is an especially strange look for S.N.L. which has positioned itself since the 2016 election as a hard-hitting voice for the liberal “resistance.” The season premiere, in fact, dedicated numerous sketches and the bulk of its “Weekend Update” segment to bashing Trumps Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and the right-wing politicians who endorse him.

Its unclear how Michaels and the rest of the S.N.L. cast will react to this display from West. All else aside, its surprising West was allowed to perform three songs, rather than the customary two. Its an honor very rarely bestowed. In the past, Michaels has supported the Wests antics as when audio of his 2016 backstage rant leaked online. “That happened in his dressing room,” Michaels told E! at the time. “Kanyes been on the show a lot of years, and its always different. Hes an artist, you know? A great artist. When he did the 40th anniversary show — which I wanted him to be part of it — I had no idea what he was going to do, even 10 minutes before we went on the air. He arrived that day, but he just always delivers, and hes Kanye.”

Of course the person Michaels was talking about in 2016 is very different from the artist who showed up to Studio 8h on Saturday. In fact, West fans were fondly reminiscing about his previous S.N.L. performances which, yes, pushed the envelope but always with something profound to say:

But if all Michaels wanted from West was headlines, he certainly succeeded.

Still, its hard to imagine this particular West stunt going over well with the staunchly liberal, anti-Trump crowd that has been boosting S.N.L.s ratings for the past two years.

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