Donald Trump wasted little time getting involved when A$AP Rocky was detained by Swedish authorities on suspicion of assault (he’s now been found guilty, after being held for almost a month, but won’t serve jailtime). Even as Trump called the Swedish prime minister though, the move seemed suspicious.
Now, it’s been alleged that the White House saw the A$AP Rocky case as little more than an opportunity to win over black voters, or offer him cultural cache. At the time, Trump was in midst of the disgraceful “send her back” row, an incident that represents everything terrible about him, his “fanbase”, and his presidency.
Trump asked for Rocky to be freed or moved somewhere cosier – only to have his much-talked-about diplomatic prowess come to nothing as it was pointed out he was asking for something illegal.
A report by Yahoo News details some of what went on behind the scenes as the White House attempted to join the #JusticeForRocky campaign. This involved a series of conversations between an elusive entertainment industry “fixer”, two high-profile Trump supporters – Darrell Scott, an Ohio pastor, and Kareem Lanier, chairman of Scott’s Urban Revitalization Coalition, a nonprofit that promotes Trump to the black community – and the White House, specifically Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Scott and Lanier reportedly became involved when the fixer, Hassan Muhammad, reached out to them after himself being contacted by Rocky’s team, in an attempt to get through to Trump. What they tell Yahoo about the situation and how they presented it to the president is revealing.
“There were no conditions attached, but my condition and Kareem’s condition was that all I’m asking for you guys to do is say thank you,” Scott says he told Rocky’s manager. So there were conditions attached, then: Rocky was expected to give Trump some good PR.
“He’s a good guy. It’s a good move,” Scott also apparently told Trump, when asked: “What do you think about this Rocky guy?”
Apparently Scott, Lanier, and the White House didn’t think it was such a “good move” when Rocky didn’t seem too grateful though, with angry words thrown around. “I was like, man, you ungrateful motherfuckers, you. I can’t believe you,” Lanier apparently told an attorney working for the rapper, before he was even released. “We didn’t ask you guys for nothing other than for you guys to be grateful.”
Later, when they reached out to Rocky hours after his release – he posted to Instagram to thank family and friends on the way home – Scott said to his manager: “I hope you guys aren’t going back on what you said you were going to do.”
After that, communications broke down, so Trump will have to chalk this one up as a loss.