Kim Kardashian says 'so many people advised' her not to meet with Trump
Kim Kardashian has no regrets about working with Donald Trump on prison reform.
While speaking at the New York Times DealBook Conference on Wednesday, the Keeping Up With the Kardashians star, 39, talked about risking her reputation to meet the president, who’s widely unpopular in Hollywood, at the White House — and she’d do it all again if it helps with her goals toward improving the criminal justice system
“I focus on prison reform and the President has done amazing things in prison reform,” said Kardashian, who was accompanied by her husband, Trump supporter Kanye West, and mom, Kris Jenner, for the chat. “I will also speak up when I feel like something is not how I feel like the world should be and that could be immigration or other things. I’m very focused, there’s a lot that we have to get done in prison reform and I believe I will be more beneficial if I just focus on that at the moment. So I’m grateful for that relationship in that area and I focus on that.”
The reality show star-turned-activist said that she knew exactly what she was getting into when she visited the White House in June, a visit set up by Trump advisors Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner.
“That was a big thing where so many people advised me, ‘Don’t go to the White House.’ And that didn’t make sense to me because I was like, if someone can get out of prison and get their life back versus my reputation of going to the White House — when there is only one person on this planet that can make the decision and that would be the president — and that was even a question for the media, that just absolutely didn’t make sense to me.”
The mom-of-four added, “I would go see anyone in power that would have that decision to change someone’s life.”
Kardashian, who is studying for the California bar exam so she can be a better advocate, went on to talk about her opening a law firm run one day.
“I’m definitely working really hard and it’s a commitment that I’ve chosen to take this time away from my family to study and to not go out with my friends and live a different life. And I’m so OK with that. I love it and I just hope that one day I can start a firm that will help with prison reform. I would love to hire these men and women that are behind bars because they know the law better than most lawyers.”
While she studies law and works to help people like freed inmate Alice Johnson, Kardashian continues to build her brand — which includes her SKIMS shapewear line (for which Johnson is a model) — but she does it with the people she is trying to help in mind.
“I am really cautious about what I spend,” she said. “So if I overspend on something and a paid post happens to come in at that time, I’ll weigh it out and think, ‘OK, well I have to pay for x, y, and z.’”
And, “Now it’s a little bit more personal for me,” she continued. “If I have a paid post that comes in and I think, ‘OK, well this can fund x amount of people that are behind bars, that can help free them with simple legal fees that they just can’t afford, then that would be worth it to me, even if the post might be a little bit off-brand for me.’ I really weigh out different things now than I used to.”
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