The release of Kanye West’s album Ye last Friday put an end to my hope that his manic-depressive defenses of President Trump and arguments that slavery was a choice would culminate in some sort of weird and rewarding artistic flourish. Kim Kardashian’s recent, more serious dalliance with Trump—she talked prison reform with him in the Oval Office—likewise ended in disappointment. Trump pardoned right-wing troll Dinesh D’Souza the next day instead of Alice Marie Johnson, the nonviolent drug offender for whom Kardashian lobbied, and the New York Post proceeded to make not one, but three, butt jokes at her expense.
But it seems Trump is totally happy with how his new friendships are working out for him. Two sources told Bloomberg’s Jennifer Jacobs that Trump made sure to let Kardashian know during their meeting last week that he was stoked with how the couple was helping his poll numbers among black voters. It mimics a few previous public statements by Trump crediting Kimye for his improved performance among black men on a Reuters weekly tracking poll, which suggests a jump in approval rating from a basement-level 11 percent to a paltry 22 percent.
Jacobs’ sources added that Trump didn’t seem to give Kardashian’s request the light of day:
Kardashian, a star of the reality show “Keeping Up with the Kardashians,” met with Trump and White House adviser Jared Kushner to discuss her campaign to win a presidential pardon for Alice Marie Johnson, a 63-year-old woman serving a life sentence without parole for a drug offense. Kardashian’s pitch didn’t get much immediate traction with the president, a person familiar with the meeting said.
He was apparently focusing on more important criminal justice reforms, like the pardon of D’Souza, who pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations. I’m sure that will be the end of Trump trotting out West and Kardashian to show how appealing he is!