Though he's been relatively quiet on social media as of late, Ice Cube reassured his followers that he hasn't abandoned his political agenda and commitments to the Black community.
The rapper explained his absence in an Instagram video Monday night, more than a month after he received backlash for working with the Trump administration on his "Contract With Black America"—a 13-point plan that aims to address racial injustices across the U.S. Cube said following news of his Trump campaign meeting, he felt there was "a lot of poison" on social media, particularly from individuals with personal and party agendas.
"I know a lot people been wondering where I’ve been. I was real active before the election, talking about what’s needed, you know, specifically for the Black community," he began. "About 10 days or two weeks before the election, I pushed back all the way pretty much until now because I just felt there was a lot of noise, a lot of poison, a lot of people with they own agendas—personal agendas or party agendas—and they really wanted to attack me for what I was doing because it was outside of the line of what they was doing, or what they believed need to be done."
Cube went on to say that he doesn't care who is president, but emphasized the importance of pushing our leaders to support and implement policies that benefit the community, regardless if there is a "D" or "R" next to their names.
"So that's the agenda: to push whatever candidate that's in power—Republican or Democrat—to do what needs to be done," he said. "I think we've focused on one party way too long ... I just believe that when you really look at the problems we’re going through, it’s bipartisan. You’re really trippin’ if you don’t look at both sides of the aisle and push both sides of the aisle to fix the problem. What’s wrong with that? I think we gotta try that, because our problems are not being solved."
Cube also said he's actively working with major companies to modify the CWBA, as he and his team recognize there may have been some areas and issues that were missed in the original document. He then sent a direct message to those who criticized his decision to meet with the Trump campaign.
"All the people who dissed what I was doing, you know, I'ma just watch to see what you get out of the whole deal," he said. "You talkin' about I was worried about getting some taxes or some shit. Yeah right. Anybody that would go through all this for some fucking taxes is an idiot ... I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing—behind the scenes, in front of the scenes ... That's it."
Shortly after the backlash erupted, Cube claimed he did not personally meet with Trump, nor did he reach out to any campaign. He told CNN's Chris Cuomo that both the Trump and Biden camps contacted him about CWBA; however, the Biden team suggested they discuss the plan after the election, while the Trump team offered to meet with him beforehand.
"I didn't run to go work with any campaign. Both campaigns contacted me," Cube explained. "Both campaigns wanted to talk to me about the Contract with Black America. One campaign said, 'We love what you have, but let's really dig into after the election.' And one campaign said 'We love what you have, do you mind talking to us about it?' And that's what I did, so I didn't run to nobody."
