Kanye West made headlines when he met with President-elect Donald Trump in Trump tower in December, but he won’t be among the performers at the Inauguration.
Trump’s chair of his Presidential Inaugural Committee, Tom Barrack, said that the team did not invite the rapper to perform at the inauguration during an interview on CNN’s Outfont. “We haven’t asked him. He considers himself a friend of the president-elect, but it’s not the venue. The venue we have for entertainment is filled out, it’s perfect, it’s going to be typically and traditionally American, and Kanye is a great guy, but we just haven’t asked him to perform. We move on with our agenda,” he told CNN’s Erin Burnett.
The rap star had publicly endorsed Trump telling his audiences mid-concert, “If I would’ve voted, I would’ve voted [for] Trump,” and calling Trump’s campaign approach “absolutely genius.” Following their December meeting, Trump told reporters they were “Just friends. Just friends—and he’s a good man.” West later said he met with Trump with goal of discussing “multicultural issues.”
The Rockettes, The Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Jackie Evancho, are scheduled to perform for the inaugural ceremonies, while Toby Keith, 3 Doors Down, Lee Greenwood are slated to appear at the kickoff event.
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