Ice Cube is addressing his role in developing the Trump administration’s proposed “Platinum Plan” for Black Americans.
On Tuesday, Trump senior advisor Katrina Pierson announced that the N.W.A rapper was working with the White House. “Shoutout to @icecube for his willingness to step up and work with @realDonaldTrump Administration to help develop the #PlatinumPlan,” Pierson tweeted. “Leaders gonna lead, haters gonna hate. Thank you for leading!”
A rep for Cube tells Rolling Stone that he offered to meet with both the Trump and Biden campaigns to discuss an “agenda for Black Americans” and support for his Contract With Black America (CWBA).
On Sunday, Cube shared an 8-minute-long video titled “DON’T KILL THE MESSENGER” during which he said he’s not jumping on the “gravy train” and supporting Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. “No president has done right by us, so I don’t trust none of them,” he said. “So putting our hopes and dreams behind any of them just don’t work. We gotta make ’em do what we wanna do.”
During his meetings with both Democrat and Republican leaders, he said the Trump administration “put $500 billion on the table” for the Black community. However, he was unsure what the outcome would be. “I just know one of them is gonna win … I don’t know if can really matter to us, we gotta just push whoever’s in there, because ain’t nobody really solved our problems,” he said. “People say we can’t take another four years of this… Black people, we can take anything, shit.”
“Joe Biden, the Democrats, I believe they owe us,” he added. “Will they do right by us at the end of the day, who knows?”
The Democrats said they would address the CWBA after Election Day, while Trump’s administration incorporated some of the CWBA into their “Platinum Plan.”
“Facts: I put out the CWBA. Both parties contacted me. Dems said we’ll address the CWBA after the election,” Cube tweeted on Wednesday. “Trump campaign made some adjustments to their plan after talking to us about the CWBA.”
He received backlash on social media from fans, who referenced old tweets from Cube where he slammed the president. “I will never endorse a mothafu**a like Donald Trump! EVER!!!” read one tweet.
After a fan expressed his disappointment with Cube “working with the Darkside,” he responded, “Every side is the Darkside for us here in America. They’re all the same until something changes for us. They all lie and they all cheat but we can’t afford not to negotiate with whoever is in power or our condition in this country will never change. Our justice is bipartisan.”
Over the summer, Cube stirred more controversy for posting anti-Semitic memes and conspiracy theories on Twitter.