Ice Cube may be working with the Trump administration, but the rapper and actor say it’s all part of a bipartisan effort to better the lives of Black Americans.
In a virtual appearance on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace, Ice Cube (real name: O’Shea Jackson) discussed his Contract with Black America, a program designed to close the opportunity gap.
“Cube brought his contract to both presidential campaigns. The Biden camp said they wanted to sit down after the election. But President Trump’s son-in-law and top adviser Jared Kushner met with him for three hours,” Wallace explained.
“They listed, heard what I had to say, and pumped up their plan and presented it to the people on September 24,” the Friday star said, referring to the president’s “Platinum Plan,” which states it will uplift Black communities across the country through a $500 billion investment.
“Some people called you a sellout. Some people said you were working with ‘the dark side,’” Wallace noted.
“That’s their opinion. They obviously don’t know the facts, or won’t accept the facts. I told everybody that I’m not playing politics with this,” the star responded. “I’m willing to meet with anybody who could bring this to life and make it a reality.”
As Wallace noted, Ice Cube faced significant backlash for his work with the Trump administration. While some longtime fans saw aligning with the White House as a betrayal, he has insisted his project is “bipartisan.”
“Every side is the Darkside for us here in America,” he replied in a tweet. “They’re all the same until something changes for us. They all lie and they all cheat but we can’t afford to negotiate with whoever is in power or our condition in this country will never change. Our justice is bipartisan.”
He has also made his feelings known in a series of personal videos posted to Twitter. Earlier this month, he posted one Twitter video clarifying that he doesn’t trust anybody.
“I don’t know if we can count on any parties to get us out of this s***, to be honest, so we are going to have to do a lot of fo things differently as a Black community. We have to pool our resources, we have to think about ourselves,” he said. “Everybody’s been mad at me that I haven’t been on the gravy train of these candidates, especially Biden/Harris. I trust none of them. No president has done right by us.”
Following several months of correspondence with both the Biden campaign and the Trump administration, Cube visited the White House last month, according to Politico.
But despite his partnership with the administration, Ice Cube has stopped short of a full endorsement of either side. When Eric Trump posted an obviously edited photograph of Ice Cube and rapper 50 Cent wearing “Trump 2020” hats, the rapper was quick to respond “N**** please.” The tweet was soon removed, according to Complex.
A frequent advocate for the Black community, the former N.W.A. star has repeatedly called for better schooling, health care, and police reform. In an appearance on Red Table Talk with Jada Pinkett Smith and Van Jones earlier this month, he also urged Hollywood to better represent Black America, Yahoo Entertainment previously reported.
“Hollywood has been complacent in our treatment in this country,” he said. “I think kids learn how to treat us when they’re watching shows. You learn, ‘OK when I become a cop, this is how I do ‘em.’ And they should look to do things to help us reverse that.”
