News

Why Kim K Doesn't Think Trump "Used" Her Over The Alice Marie Johnson Meeting

CNN

On Thursday evening, CNN aired a Kim Kardashian video describing when she received Trump's call about officially commuting Alice Marie Johnson's sentence and it sounds like a moment she'll never forget. During an interview with Van Jones, Kardashian revealed that she had been talking with her husband, Kanye West, that fateful call came in from an "unknown" number that turned out to be the White House. But later in the interview, Jones touched on some of the tougher questions that arose following Trump and Kardashian's Oval Office meeting on prison reform and sentencing.

Kardashian started out by admitting, "I have to say, I never get starstruck. I was starstruck over the Oval Office." Then, she went into detail about the moment she learned Johnson would be freed. She said:

It says "unknown." And so I remember I was on the phone with my husband and I said, "Wait, babe, I gotta call you back." And it was a secretary on the line that said she had the president on the phone and I knew it had to be some ... some news ... I was always really hopeful. And I had been in communication with Jared, so I was feeling things were looking really positive. But that week after meeting, you're just literally on pins and needles, waiting to hear what's going on. So, yeah, he called my cellphone.

Later in the interview, though, Jones switched gears and addressed a question that's no doubt on people's minds following Kardashian and Trump's meeting on May 30. The host asked Kardashian if she thinks she's given Trump "legitimacy" by talking with him, and if she suspects he'll use her as a "political pawn" from this point forward. The reality TV star wasn't at all convinced that that was the case.

"I think Kanye's already given him legitimacy you know, in that way," Kardashian responded, presumably referencing Kanye West's recent pro-Trump Twitter rant. In fact, Trump had actually publicly thanked the rapper in May for supposedly contributing to a boost in his popularity among black Americans.

"At the end of the day, he heard me out," Kardashian ultimately told Jones of the president. "We got the job done, so I don't think ... what could he really use me for?" Though it didn't come up in the interview, Kardashian has not supported Trump nearly as much as her husband has. In fact, the celebrity actually endorsed Hillary Clinton for president as early as August 2015. Still, Kardashian hasn't necessarily spoken out against Trump — and that's part of the reason why it seems at least plausible that the president would try to spin the prison sentencing meeting in his favor.

Regardless, that doesn't seem to be what's on Kardashian's mind. As she told Jones, she accomplished what she set out to do by helping free Johnson. The 63-year-old grandma had been sentenced to life in prison without parole for "conspiracy to possess cocaine and attempted possession of cocaine," according to CNN.

On Wednesday, Johnson received the incredible news of her release from Kardashian herself via a phone call with lawyers. "I want to tell Kim, my angel, that you never gave up on me. You never gave up your fight," Johnson said, CNN reported. "You were relentless and it has paid off beautifully for me and my family on this day."

Johnson had a message for the president as well. "I am going to make you proud that you gave me this second chance in life," the grandmother told CNN. "And I will not disappoint the American public or the world that has so much faith in me." So when it comes down to it, it makes sense that Kardashian would continue to focus on Johnson's new life, instead of elaborate on the inner workings of a business relationship between two celebrities. Whether Trump is using Kardashian or not, the outcome is still positive for Johnson.