Kanye West tweeted that Emma González is his hero, and her response is the most perfect tweet of 2018 so far
In case you missed it, Kanye West’s recent behavior has been raising eyebrows. The rapper returned to Twitter after a lengthy hiatus, and even his wife Kim Kardashian was just as shocked to see it happening as we were. On Saturday, April 28th, Kanye West tweeted that Emma González is his hero. And later, the Parkland school shooting survivor and gun control activist took to Twitter to respond in the most amazing way imaginable.
Let’s be real. Kanye’s return to Twitter started with some interesting and even philosophical tweets giving us insight into his life and creative process. However, it quickly went south when he started tweeting about his “brother” Donald Trump.
“You don’t have to agree with trump but the mob can’t make me not love him. We are both dragon energy. He is my brother. I love everyone,” Kanye tweeted on Wednesday, April 25th. “I don’t agree with everything anyone does. That’s what makes us individuals. And we have the right to independent thought.”
Then, when Kanye tweeted a photo of himself wearing a Make America Great Again hat later that day, fans were rightfully concerned. The rapper has explained his support of Donald Trump in his new track, “Ye Vs. The People,” which also features rapper T.I.’s goosebump-worthy criticism. Despite his message of love and acceptance, you can’t separate the good from the bad. false false
So while we totally agree with Kanye that Emma González is a hero, we definitely understand her response.
González quickly (and indirectly) responded to Kanye’s tweet, even mimicking the extra space between “hero” and the name, and it’s totally poignant.
my hero James Shaw Jr. pic.twitter.com/BRnuYEURdv
— X González (@callmeX) April 29, 2018
That’s a picture of James Shaw Jr., the hero who rushed the Waffle House shooter in a suburb of Nashville, Tennessee earlier this month. The 29-year-old grabbed the barrel of an AR-15 when the shooter paused to reload, risking his life and saving dozens. But Shaw’s heroism didn’t stop there. He promptly created a GoFundMe to raise money for the victims of the shooting, and he’s raised nearly $200,000 in a whopping six days.
Why does this matter? Because Donald Trump has yet to address the Waffle House shooting or its hero.
Donald Trump has now tweeted TWICE today about Kanye West.
He never tweeted about James Shaw Jr., the hero of the Waffle House shooting.
He never tweeted about racial profiling of innocent black men at Starbucks.
Tells you all you need to know about who our President is.
— Adam Best (@adamcbest) April 25, 2018
Trump’s silence on the subject of this young hero is beyond troubling.
Honestly, we love that Emma González used her platform to point out the major flaw in Kanye’s support of Donald Trump. Kanye has said that he doesn’t agree with everything Trump does, but you can’t have it both ways. Kanye’s support blatantly disregards the harmful behavior Trump has expressed toward minorities, women, people with disabilities, the LGBTQ+ community, and so many more.
Even if Kanye is tweeting about love, he’s still supporting someone whose actions are motivated with the exact opposite.