Rapper Lil Wayne set the internet on fire Thursday night when he announced that he had a meeting with President Donald Trump and praised POTUS for his work on criminal justice reform and the administration’s “Platinum Plan,” which is intended to bolster black Americans’ prosperity.
“Just had a great meeting with [President Donald Trump],” Wayne, whose real name is Dwayne Michael Carter Jr., captioned a photo of the pair together.
“Besides what he’s done so far with criminal reform,” he added, “the platinum plan is going to give the community real ownership. He listened to what we had to say today and assured he will and can get it done.”
President Trump retweeted the post from his account.
Just had a great meeting with @realdonaldtrump @potus besides what he’s done so far with criminal reform, the platinum plan is going to give the community real ownership. He listened to what we had to say today and assured he will and can get it done. 🤙🏾 pic.twitter.com/Q9c5k1yMWf
— Lil Wayne WEEZY F (@LilTunechi) October 29, 2020
Wayne isn’t the only celebrity working with Trump on the Platinum Plan. As noted by The Daily Wire earlier this month, actor and rapper Ice Cube confirmed that he worked with the administration on the plan, too.
Wayne has made political headlines before for backing police officers and his criticism of far-Left activism, which he categorized as mostly empty “hashtag” or “t-shirt” activism.
Speaking on the death of George Floyd back in May, Wayne advised people to be “very specific” when reacting to perceived injustices, warning them not to blame the “entire force” or an “entire race.”
The rapper also implored activists to “know” what they’re “protesting about” before they advocate a cause. “It’s a bunch of facts that we think we know that we don’t know,” he said.
“I think when we see these situations, I think we also have to understand that we have to get very specific,” he told rapper Fat Joe via Instagram Live, according to Rap Up. “We have to get so specific, and what I mean by that, we have to stop viewing it from such a broad view, meaning we have to stop placing the blame on the whole force and the whole everybody of a certain race or everybody with a badge.”
“We have to get into who that person is,” he continued. “If we want to place the blame on anybody, it should be ourselves for not doing more than what we think we’re doing.”
Moreover, back in 2016, during an appearance on Fox Sports’ “Undisputed,” Wayne expressed that he was unimpressed with then-NFL QB Colin Kaepernick’s national anthem protest, and said that he’s never experienced racism, and described how a white cop saved his life years ago.
“It’s the man’s decision,” Wayne said of Kaepernick’s protest. “I’m not into it enough to even give an opinion. So when he did it, someone had to tell me why he was doing it, that’s how much I didn’t know what was going on. And I kind of still don’t.”
“I have never—and never’s a strong word—never dealt with racism, and I’m glad I didn’t have to,” he continued. “I don’t know if it’s because of my blessings … but it is my reality. So … I’d have to say, not only [that] I thought it was over; I still believe it’s over. But obviously it isn’t.”
“[Racism is] not cool to them,” Wayne said of younger generations, “it don’t matter to them. It’s so not cool that it doesn’t even matter to them.”
The rapper recalled: “That day that I shot myself, the police … came through there; they knocked the doors down; I was on the floor; they all hopped over me, looking for the drugs, and looking for this and that. It was a white police that ran up and stopped, and said, ‘What the [f***] are ya’ll doing? Do y’all not see this baby on the floor?’ … He picked me up; [he] brought me to the hospital himself. He was white.”
That same year, Wayne criticized Black Lives Matter activists.
“What is it? What do you mean?” he said when asked about the activist group, later adding: “That just sounds weird, I don’t know, that you put a name on. It’s not a name. It’s not ‘whatever, whatever.’ It’s somebody got shot by police for a f***ed up reason.”
“I am a young, black, rich motherf***er—if that don’t let you know that America understand black [inaudible] matters these days, I don’t know what it is,” he said. “That man white; he filmin’ me. I’m a n*****. I don’t know what you mean, [man]. Don’t come at me with that dumb s*** [ma’am].”
“I don’t feel connected to a damn thing that ain’t got nothin’ to do with me,” added Wayne.
Trump’s Platinum Plan seeks to “increase access to capital in black communities by almost $500 billion” and outlines its four “pillars” as follows:
OPPORTUNITY – By achieving historic employment levels for Black Americans, as well as increasing access to capital for new businesses, President Trump has been committed to ensuring all Black Americans can achieve the American Dream
SECURITY – By signing into law the celebrated First Step Act, President Trump has brought common sense criminal justice reform to the American people for the first time in decades, while ensuring that our streets and communities are safe for families and business owners
PROSPERITY – As the first President to provide long-term funding to Historically Black Colleges and Universities, this Administration continues to seek immediate and generational advancement for Black Americans
FAIRNESS – As demonstrated through his actions to initiate investment into Opportunity Zones, as well as address health disparities, wage gaps and necessary education reforms, President Trump works every day to advance a fair and just America for the Black Community