Last month, people took to social media to share videos of themselves trashing and burning New Balance sneakers following a statement issued by the company in support of president-elect Donald Trump and his position on the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Due to the massive amount of backlash, New Balance was forced to clarify its position, making it clear that the original statement only applied to the context of the TPP. However, emphasizing business during a time when people are concerned about humanity proved to be, at best, a misstep during a very heated time in the country.
Now, one of the sneaker industry's biggest influencers isn't only backing president-elect Trump — he's doubling down. Kanye West, who previously announced intention to run for president in 2020, first made his pro-Trump position clear during a concert in San Jose last month. "I didn't vote, but if I did, I would have voted for Trump," West told a stunned audience, drawing loud boos and walkouts from some of his biggest fans. A few days later, West canceled his multi-city Saint Pablo Tour and was hospitalized for undisclosed reasons.
In one of his first public appearances since leaving the hospital on Nov. 30, West surprisingly showed up at Trump Tower for a meeting with Trump on Tuesday. In a series of tweets following the meeting, West explained that he met with the president-elect to discuss multicultural issues such as bullying, supporting teachers, modernizing curriculums and violence in his home city of Chicago. Still, seeing the man who once used his platform to tell the world that "George Bush doesn't care about black people" act chummy with a man who launched his political career with bigotry, campaigned on divisiveness and is staffing his cabinet with openly racist individuals is a tough pill to swallow for many longtime West fans. But are his supporters, like former New Balance wearers, willing to give up his highly coveted products in an effort to take a stand?
With this in mind, we took to Twitter and our other social media channels to ask readers a question: Does Kanye West's recent support of Donald Trump make you less likely to support his products? As expected, the reactions were quite mixed. Some fans are turning away from purchasing Yeezy sneakers and other West-endorsed products, while others won't let his political views affect their appreciation of him as a musician and creator. Following a year that saw Adidas grow substantially in the sports and footwear market, largely in part because of its West-backed Boost technology, the timing of his latest stunt could have been damaging. Instead, it seems that while he lost some of his supporters, there's more than enough to fill the void moving forward. See some of the best Twitter responses below.
Does @kanyewest's recent support of @realDonaldTrump make you less likely to support his products? pic.twitter.com/UbqtqVSc2X
— SoleCollector.com (@SoleCollector) December 14, 2016
@SoleCollector @kanyewest @realDonaldTrump Yes! and here's my Kanye card. I see nothing but a hypocrite now. pic.twitter.com/XP16iCMqJA
— Delblogo (@Delblogo) December 15, 2016
Yep. Was interested in several new color ways but will save it for something else. https://t.co/NiQ4jTxPb5
— Juan (@jb713) December 15, 2016
@SoleCollector I can't say I'm happy with his support. But I will say it is important to have dialogue and his topics yesterday were good
— Brett Drake (@bdrake25) December 15, 2016
@SoleCollector of course. @kanyewest is placating a demagogue in @realDonaldTrump who has condescended in attempt to mollify and silence.
— Bachscore (@masapequaparkng) December 15, 2016
@SoleCollector @kanyewest @realDonaldTrump no need to worry about shoes were about to kick off WWIII.
— Mr. Herrera (@MaskedYeti) December 15, 2016
@Cmoneymontana @SoleCollector @kanyewest @realDonaldTrump I support trump and I like Kanye. I am also not a Stan or a sheep. Just worked out
— Satbir Randhawa (@satbirrandhawa9) December 14, 2016
@SoleCollector @kanyewest @realDonaldTrump As a fan, I'm offended and I'll be selling my Trump Force 1s (aka Yeezy Boosts)
— Alex Bull (@BullTheGod) December 14, 2016
Kanye stans don't care. https://t.co/iLuVDuvfkV
— True Master (@Cmoneymontana) December 14, 2016
@MattGagola @SoleCollector @kanyewest @realDonaldTrump I'll buy whoever doesn't want em
— Steel City Roots (@black_yellow412) December 14, 2016
@SoleCollector @kanyewest @realDonaldTrump yup, our dollars most time speak louder than votes.
— Francisco Dictado (@fdictado) December 14, 2016
@SoleCollector I can't stand Trump and disagree with Kanye, but I don't have to agree with all of my favourite musician's opinions.
— Mike (@mfortuna45) December 15, 2016
@SoleCollector I could care less as long as his music is legendary. He's been doing controversial things for years to get a reaction.
— Andrew Antillon III (@SicEmBruiser) December 15, 2016
@SoleCollector @kanyewest 🖕 @realDonaldTrump As a non-fan of all of the above it has 0 affect - I'll still be buying them J's and Air Maxes
— Nate Costa (@THERealShoePimp) December 14, 2016
@SoleCollector @kanyewest @realDonaldTrump yes. i never went after his sneakers, but i'd balk at concert tix and album purchases now
— Mark (@mgc232) December 14, 2016
@SoleCollector actually its the first time I give a shit about them. At least the 350s
— Martin van Nostrand (@GriffTannen19) December 14, 2016
@SoleCollector @kanyewest @realDonaldTrump Absolutely not. Kanye fan till the day I die 💯
— Auzzy (@prettyboyauzzy) December 14, 2016
@SoleCollector @kanyewest @realDonaldTrump people will say yes, yet they will still buy to resell
— Bryan Adams (@Bryfoto) December 14, 2016
@SoleCollector @kanyewest @realDonaldTrump this isn't New Balance, Yeezys have a higher profit margin for resellers and hypocrites
— blacksaigon (@blacksaigon1) December 15, 2016
@SoleCollector @kanyewest @realDonaldTrump no, that is directly opposed to the idea of democracy. Yeezy has the right to an opinion
— A$AP EGGS (@MikesNuggetry) December 14, 2016
