Ice Cube has defended himself after being criticised for working with Donald Trump's administration.
Ice Cube
The 51-year-old rapper and actor was subjected to a backlash when senior presidential advisor Katrina Pierson revealed on Twitter that he had "stepped up" to help them with their Platinum Plan - which aims to address issues facing the Black community - and he's now spoken up to explain how he was approached by both Democrat and Republican representatives about his own Contract with Black America initiative.
He tweeted: "Facts: I put out the CWBA. Both parties contacted me. Dems said we’ll address the CWBA after the election. Trump campaign made some adjustments to their plan after talking to us about the CWBA."
And when one user accused him of turning to the "dark side", he insisted most politicians are "the same" when it comes to helping Black people, which is his main priority.
He replied: "Every side is the Darkside for us here in America. They’re all the same until something changes for us. They all lie and they all cheat but we can’t afford not to negotiate with whoever is in power or our condition in this country will never change. Our justice is bipartisan.(sic)"
The Platinum Plan was first discussed in Atlanta, Georgia, last month and includes proposals such as increasing capital in Black communities by as much as $500 billion and providing better access to equitable education and job opportunities.
It seems Ice was already expecting a backlash as over the weekend, he posted a video to Twitter titled 'Don't Kill the Messenger', in which he explained he had met with leaders from both political parties.
He said in the clip: "Who knows what’s really gonna happen?
“I just know one of them is gonna win … I don’t know if can really matter to us, we gotta just push whoever’s in there, because ain’t nobody really solved our problems,” he says, addressing the black community. “People say we can’t take another four years of this — black people, s***, we can take anything.
“Joe Biden, the Democrats, I believe they owe us. Will they do right by us at the end of the day — who knows?”
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