Kanye West calls Emma Gonzalez 'my hero' on Twitter. Here's her response.
Kanye West's admiration for Emma Gonzalez may not have landed as he'd hoped.
In the latest instalment of the superstar's debate-triggering Twitter thoughts, West tweeted on Sunday his admiration for the high school senior, survivor of the shooting in Parkland, Florida, and now gun control activist.
He posted the words "my hero" alongside an image of Gonzalez at CNN's Town Hall following the Parkland school shooting in February.
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West followed the initial tweet up with a selfie captioned with the words "inspired by Emma."
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Gonzalez quickly responded indirectly to West on Sunday, with a tweet of her own. Using the same "my hero" caption template, Gonzalez instead used the moment to champion James Shaw Jr., the 29-year-old who disarmed the Waffle House shooter without being armed himself, likely saving many lives in the process.
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Gonzalez' support for Shaw comes as no shock, as the teenage Parkland activist has become a fierce campaigner for gun control after surviving the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
It's also no real surprise Gonzalez reacted to West's tweet like this. West has recently ruffled feathers on Twitter, wearing a red MAGA hat and championing his alignment with Donald Trump — something West says is not necessarily to do with supporting Trump's policies, but more to do with "freedom of thought."
Pop superstar John Legend responded to his buddy West's praise of Gonzalez on Sunday, saying Trump's "Make America Great Again" administration was "gonna be really disappointed if Kanye ever finds out about their policy positions." It's not the first time Legend has weighed in on West's Twitter posts.
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Speaking of policy positions, Gonzalez called on Trump and lawmakers to tighten gun restrictions after the Parkland shooting, which claimed the lives of 17 students and teachers. When Trump suggested that teachers should be armed in the classroom, Gonzalez slammed the idea, saying it didn't "make any rational or logical sense."
Importantly, regardless of the president's recent suggestions, West doesn't appear to be anti-gun control — in fact, the opposite. West has long been vocal about addressing gun violence, and he and his family made a rare public appearance at the March for Our Lives rally in Washington, D.C. in February, an event Gonzalez and her fellow classmates organised.
Wait for Kanye's next tweet on this, I guess.
Topics Activism X/Twitter Celebrities
Shannon Connellan is Mashable's UK Editor based in London, formerly Mashable's Australia Editor, but emotionally, she lives in the Creel House. A Tomatometer-approved critic, Shannon writes about entertainment, tech, social good, science, culture, and Australian horror.
