Tom Barrack, who chairs Trump’s Inaugural Committee, explained to CNN on Wednesday why Kanye West wasn’t asked to perform at this week’s inauguration — and the rapper probably won’t like it.
“We haven’t asked him. I mean, he’s been great,” the chairman of Colony Capital told the network. “He considers himself a friend of the president-elect, but it’s not the venue. The venue we have for entertainment is filled out; it’s perfect.”
But then Barrack went on to describe why West wasn’t asked to join the inauguration festivities: “It’s going to be typically and traditionally American. Kanye’s a great guy, we just haven’t asked him to perform. We move on with our agenda.”
Whoa.
West, who’s sold tens of millions of albums and digital downloads worldwide, certainly fits the A-list profile Trump’s team has been desperately trying to book for the festivities.
And one might argue that rap is as American as it gets, considering the genre was created in the U.S.
West even showed up at Trump Tower last month for an impromptu meeting with the president-elect, though the rapper denied having discussing the inauguration with the president-elect.
He told his millions of Twitter followers that the pow-wow focused on “bullying, supporting teachers, modernizing curriculum, and violence in Chicago.”
We asked the Trump’s team what in God’s green earth Barrack meant by his comments about “traditionally American” inauguration performers, so far we haven’t heard back.
Kanye’s reps did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
Crazy part is after Kanye finished his role for the cameras ..Trump's ppl said he wasnt typical or "traditonally American" enough to perform
— Lu Lu (@__MissLu) January 19, 2017