It’s not just what he said, but where he said it. Ice Cube raised eyebrows among his longtime fans for criticizing former President Barack Obama during an interview with conservative commentator Tucker Carlson.
The rap legend was a guest on the latest episode of Carlson’s social media show, “Tucker on Twitter.” (Carlson launched the show after Fox News fired him in April).
Ice Cube’s interview hit Twitter on Tuesday, July 25, and featured the rapper — born O’Shea Jackson — giving Carlson a tour of his old neighborhood in South Los Angeles as they chatted in a car.
The former N.W.A. member talked about his skepticism of the COVID-19 vaccine and the Black Lives Matter movement. Then the conversation turned to politics.
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The hip-hop star said he felt a sense of pride in November 2008, when Obama became the first Black man elected to the White House.
“For the first time I felt proud that America took that step. I didn’t think that they would ever do that,” Ice Cube recalled.
But the rapper, actor, and movie producer said he was disappointed by the time Obama left office in January 2017.
“I thought maybe this guy is going to be the guy,” Ice Cube said. “But then, I look around, years go by and not much changed for people I know, people I care about. But it didn’t change with Bush, it didn’t change with Clinton, it didn’t change with the other Bush, Reagan, Carter. At the end of the day, it’s still the same results.”
The Neighborhood Talk posted the portion of the interview about Obama on its Instagram page, prompting strong reactions.
“What has Cube done for the Black community besides negatively impact Black male culture on a global scale??” one person commented on the post.
“The Republicans blocked everything Obama attempted to do just like they’re doing Biden right now… everything,” someone else commented.
“How do you expect one person to clean up years of racism?” another person added.
Someone else made reference to N.W.A.’s 1988 protest song “F–k tha Police.”
“Now how do we go from F#CK THE POLICE to nice chats with Tucker Carlson???? Lawddddd people will change up on you in a MINUTE!” the person commented.
Watch the video below:
