In a new episode of the Brilliant Idiots podcast, Charlamagne suggested that he doesn't blame Lil Wayne or Kodak Black for Trump pardoning them.
On Donald Trump's last day of presidency, he granted pardons and commutations to a long list of people, including Wayne and Kodak. While Lil Wayne is effectively off the hook legally over the commutation of his 2019 gun charge, Kodak still has a criminal sexual conduct case pending in South Carolina. Speaking with his co-host Andrew Schulz and guests Mandii B and WeezyWTF of WHOREible Decisions, Charlamagne said he doesn't blame either rapper one bit.
"I'm not mad at Wayne. I don't judge people for what they do when they're just trying to survive," he said. "I think that it's very easy to say what you wouldn't do in that situation, but Lil Wayne is a multi-millionaire, he's got five kids, he's been in jail before, he's facing 10 years, this is his second gun charge. Like, c'mon." He added that the charges Wayne were facing weren't particularly severe, although his guests and co-host were quick to highlight Wayne's history of questionable comments regarding racism and the Black Lives Matter movement.
Following a post from The Neighborhood Talk on Instagram highlighting the clip in which he shared his thoughts on the pardons, he elaborated on his thoughts further.
"Didn’t neither one of them snitch to save themselves, they didn’t set anyone up to save themselves, they didn’t get anyone killed to save themselves," he wrote in the comments. "They just politicked with someone who’s politics people don’t agree with. I’m happy for a lot of folks the celebrity in chief pardoned especially non violent drug offenders who got life and astronomical numbers for weed when that shit is legal now medicinally or recreationally throughout the majority of the country."
On Thursday, Weezy thanked the Trump administration for his pardon. "I want to thank President Trump for recognizing that I have so much more to give to my family, my art, and my community," Weezy said. "I also want to thank [attorney Bradford Cohen] for working so diligently to secure another chance for me. Love!" His attorney Cohen has claimed that Weezy's gun charge wasn't the inspiration behind his decision to endorse Trump in the 2020 election.
Watch the full episode of Brilliant Idiots above.
