A pastor who once hosted Kanye West’s Sunday Service is now speaking out against controversial comments West has made, especially regarding Donald Trump and slavery.
Pastor Jamal Harrison Bryant of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Georgia started his sermon Sunday by praising West’s new album Jesus Is King, but told congregants he couldn’t stand behind the rapper’s political views, Complex reports.
Bryant told his church that he takes issue with what West does “in between the songs.”
“Kanye West is a gifted lyricist,” Bryant reportedly said. “My problem is in between the songs. It ain’t on the album. The album is hot, it’s good. It’s in between the songs. I can’t rest with Kanye saying that slavery was an option.”
Last year, West stirred up controversy after saying of slavery: “They could have stopped it. They could have said, ‘Yo this is going too far.’ … You hear about slavery for 400 years. For 400 years? That sounds like a choice.”
A few months later, West apologized for his comments to those who “felt let down by that moment.”
Bryant also condemned West’s support of Trump, saying that the rapper’s support made the president feel comfortable visiting the city.
“It’s in between the songs that he says black people should vote Republican because that’s the group that kept us free,” he says. “I can’t rest in between the songs when Kanye would endorse Donald Trump who has never done a thing for black people, but say this is the way that is going to give us resources. It’s in between the songs that he endorsed him, and because he endorsed him, Donald Trump thought that he was going to come into Atlanta, Georgia, and nobody was going to check him.”
Several weeks ago, during an interview with BigBoyTV, West defended his right to vote for whom he wanted. He also rebuked “white liberals” who told him to vote Democrat because he was black.
“So you mean to tell me I make every decision based off my color?” he said. “The most racist thing a person could tell me is that I’m supposed to choose something based on my race.”
The same people who are trying to control his voting habits, he said, are also trying to remove Jesus from the United States.
“Who told you that my career would be over? The same people that are telling you that you can’t have a right to say who you will vote for,” West said. “Those people will be soon to take Jesus out of school. Those people will be soon to remove Jesus, period, from America, which is the Bible Belt. Those people will be so mad. Come on man.”
