As if rapper Kanye West’s ego needed a boost, now he can say that President Obama opened for him Saturday at the Warfield Theatre in San Francisco.
The two men never shared the stage during the fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee. Obama made a beeline for an Air Force One run to Los Angeles for more fundraisers Saturday after speaking for 22 minutes to 1,300 people who paid between $100 and $10,000 to attend. Then West, who Obama referred to as a “jackass” in 2009 after the rapper interrupted singerTaylor Swift at an awards ceremony, performed for about an hour.
But before Obama launched into the homecoming pep rally-speak that is endemic to fundraising appearances, the president needled West for his recent announcement at the Video Music Awards that the rapper/artist/fashion designer/Kardashian arm candy planned to run for president in 2020.
“It’s about ideas, bro. New ideas. People with ideas. People who believe in truth,” West said to close his 11-minute speech at the awards ceremony. “And yes, as you probably could have guessed by this moment, I have decided in 2020 to run for president.”
Obama, as Saturday’s opening act, mined West’s riff for political comedy gold — and got a shot in at the recent chaos of the GOP’s struggle to find a new House speaker.
“You’re going to hear from a guy who I hear has been talking about launching a potential political career,” Obama told the audience. “You may have heard about how Kanye is thinking about running ... for speaker of the House. It couldn’t get any stranger.”
Obama then offered some advice, “In case Kanye is serious about this whole POTUS thing, or as he calls it, ‘Peezy.’
“First of all you’ve got to spend a lot of time dealing with some strange characters who behave like they’re on a reality TV show. So you’ve got to be cool with that.
“Second important tip,” Obama said before name-checking the title of West’s 2010 Grammy-winning album, “Saying you have a beautiful, dark twisted fantasy ... that’s what’s known as ‘off message’ in politics. You can’t say something like that. A lot of people have lost their congressional seats saying stuff like that.
“And No. 3: Do you really think this country is going to elect a black guy from the South Side of Chicago with a funny name to be president of the United States?” Obama said. “That’s crazy.”
Spike in approval
Introduced by Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf and Steph Curry, Draymond Green and a half dozen of the NBA champion Golden State Warriors toting the championship trophy, Obama seemed relaxed and loose Saturday as he landed in California riding his highest approval ratings in the Golden State since the start of his second term in 2013.
According to a Field Poll released Saturday, 60 percent of the state’s registered voters approve of Obama's performance, while 33 percent disapprove. That marked a spike from May when the president's job approval was 53 percent in California. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.
California’s opinion of Obama remains an outlier, as 45 percent of voters nationally approve of the job he’s doing, while 50 percent disapprove, according to the latest average of nationwide polls compiled by RealClearPolitics.com
Without naming him, Obama took a couple of thinly veiled shots at Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump’s harsh comments about immigrants and proposal to build a gigantic wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
“Fanning intolerance isn’t going to solve the problem,” Obama said. “America’s greatness doesn’t come from building walls, it comes from building opportunity.” In another shot at Trump’s self-aggrandizement on the campaign trail, Obama said, “‘Don’t just leave it to me or any politician. I didn’t say, ‘Yes, I can.’ I said, ‘Yes, we can.’”
Many rose to their feet when Obama decried the “gun massacres that we see with growing frequency in this country.”
“We don’t have to have young boys in Oakland getting shot every day,” he said. “We’ve got to have a different choice.”
‘I’m just getting started’
With a little more than a year left in the White House, Obama looked forward, telling the audience that he would be soon working alongside them as a private citizen. He urged people to stay involved “and not just at events like this where Kanye” is at.
“I’m not going to hold elective office, but it doesn’t mean I’m going to stop working on these issues. I’m just getting started. We’re going to be working side-by-side to make sure the system is responsive,” Obama said. But for now, the president headed to Los Angeles Saturday for more fundraisers.
After Obama left — and the media was ushered out behind him — West performed more than a dozen of his top hits including “Power,” “Gold Digger,” “All Day” and “Good Life,” for about an hour, according to some who watched the show. But he didn’t comment about his presidential ambitions or engage in any extended banter.
Perhaps, West was just trying to stay on message.
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