Issa Rae Is Still Rooting For Everybody Black — Except Kanye West

Issa Rae made her debut on Saturday Night Live, and the Insecure showrunner killed it in her various roles on the sketch comedy show. One of her sketches was especially hilarious, playing on her infamous 2017 Emmys red carpet interview — but Kanye West wasn’t exactly laughing from his spot on the couch.

In 2017, Rae went viral after sharing that she would be “rooting for everybody Black” at the 69th Primetime Emmy Awards, and the casual remark went on to become the go-to expression for supporting and uplifting the Black community. On SNL, the writers leaned into the relatable saying for a scenario involving Black voters and Black politicians. True to her word, Rae’s character indeed threw her support behind everyone Black, but it definitely wasn't easy.

The starred Rae as a Black voter eager for representation on Kenan Thompson's fictional Your Voice Chicago talk show, with Thompson talking politics on Capitol Hill with Rae and fellow SNL comedian Ego Nwodim. Thompson went through a number of political matchups, and Rae explained why she would obviously be supporting the Black candidate in each race.

“For too long our people’s voices have not been heard," said the actress. "It’s our duty to stand together and take our power back!"

Unfortunately, it only got harder to defend her all-Black ticket the more the conversation continued; among them was a pastor with a record of tax fraud as well as a pair of Trump-loving conservatives who were somehow illegally running as a duo on the same ticket. As much as it pained her, Rae's character was still able to do the mental gymnastics to justify why these political hopefuls deserved her support. Except Kanye West, that is.

At the closing of the sketch, the rapper's name was thrown into the mix, but not even Rae's character could justify him running. "F Kanye!" she added before the screen faded to black. Needless to say, West was not pleased to be the butt of that joke.

"Ive always said SNL uses black people to hold other black people back [sic]," West tweeted upon learning of the sketch, also bafflingly included a screenshot of a Spanish Google search of the actress's information. "My heart goes out to Issa Rae. I'm praying for her and her family."

"I know that the twenty years of service that I’ve paid in the entertainment field has furthered our ability to be more successful," the tweet continued.

It was just a sketch, but all jokes hold a grain of truth in them, and Rae wasn't too far off with this one. West has famously inserted himself into one of the most important presidential elections of the modern age, and if we're keeping it real, his sudden interest in politics is a dangerous distraction; just like someone else we know, the rapper has no political experience or real political policy, and the last thing this country needs is another president with no plan. Additionally, the last few years of West's career have been marked by extremely problematic behavior that has specifically impacted the very community that got him where he is today.

So yeah, we're still rooting for everybody Black, but even that comes with a caveat: not all skin folk are kinfolk, and not everybody needs to be in office.