These are strange times we’re living in. Rapper A$AP Rocky has been in a Swedish jail charged with assault following a June 30 incident where he and members of his entourage allegedly got into a street fight with a pair of men. Kanye West called up his pal, President Donald Trump and asked him to intervene and he did, as Trump spoke to Sweden’s prime minister to try to secure Rocky’s freedom. The rapper remains in jail in that country and that caused the 73-year-old president to go on a Twitter rant on July 25 that some are calling hypocritical.
“Very disappointed in Prime Minister Stefan Löfven for being unable to act. Sweden has let our African American Community down in the United States. I watched the tapes of A$AP Rocky, and he was being followed and harassed by troublemakers. Treat Americans fairly! #FreeRocky,” he tweeted, followed by “Give A$AP Rocky his FREEDOM. We do so much for Sweden but it doesn’t seem to work the other way around. Sweden should focus on its real crime problem! #FreeRocky.”
Many saw it as hypocritical that he’s upset Rocky is jailed while migrant kids are still being held in U.S. federal detention centers. “Trump can help a rapper, while ignoring hundreds and hundreds of migrant children living in filth…….” a user named mlj tweeted. A man named Fred wrote “Every time you type A$AP Rocky, replace the name with Migrants and watch the smoke escape your ears.” A use named Alejo tweeted “F**king a**hole @realDonaldTrump give the migrant kids their freedom. Quit splitting families apart and also quit using A$AP Rocky as a token to look less racist.”
Others thought Trump was using Rocky’s case to make himself appeal to the black community. A user named Morque tweeted “Donald Trump begging for ASAP Rocky’s freedom from a Swedish prison for the black vote in 2020 is a sentence I never in my life thought I would have to write.” A user named Sydney tweeted “If Trump saves ASAP Rocky then he will say ‘How can I be racist and I saved a black guy from incarceration.; I need ASAP to man up and do his time for the culture.”
Very disappointed in Prime Minister Stefan Löfven for being unable to act. Sweden has let our African American Community down in the United States. I watched the tapes of A$AP Rocky, and he was being followed and harassed by troublemakers. Treat Americans fairly! #FreeRocky
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 25, 2019
Give A$AP Rocky his FREEDOM. We do so much for Sweden but it doesn’t seem to work the other way around. Sweden should focus on its real crime problem! #FreeRocky
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 25, 2019
Overall, the surreal situation is what left many people shaking their heads, as this level of weird never would have happened under President Barack Obama. “Imagine someone in 2012 telling you that Asap Rocky’s only hope to be freed from a Swedish prison was Kanye West and Kim Kardashian leveraging their powerful political connections to have the President Donald Trump make the call,” one person tweeted while another wrote, “Imagine someone telling you in 2012 that in 2019 A$AP Rocky would be held hostage by Sweden and Donald Trump would be on Twitter telling them to give him back. #FreeRocky.”