- Kanye West announced his intention to run for President of the United States on Saturday, tweeting, “We must now fulfill America’s promise by trusting God, unifying our vision, and building our future. I am running for President of the United States.”
- West received a variety of reactions, including support from Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.
- Despite his tweet, the deadline to file as a freelancer has passed in six states and the deadline in seven others is approaching.
- With just four months until voters head to the polls, West also doesn’t appear to have registered with the Federal Election Commission, although there is no official deadline to do so.
- Visit the Business Insider home page for more stories.
On Saturday night, Kanye West announced in a tweet his intention to run for president.
But it’s too late for him to run as an independent candidate in six states, and he doesn’t appear to have registered with the Federal Election Committee, either.
“Now we must deliver on America’s promise by trusting God, unifying our vision, and building our future,” West, 43, wrote with the hashtag # 2020VISION. “I am running for President of the United States.”
—Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) July 5, 2020
West’s wife, reality star and makeup mogul Kim Kardashian West, shared her announcement and added a United States flag emoji. Support also came from outside the Western family.
“You have all my support!” Elon Musk, founder and CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, tweeted in response. Musk and West have a documented friendship. Most recently, West tweeted a photo of the two together in early July. In 2015, Musk wrote West’s entry as part of Time magazine’s list of the 100 Most Influential People.
—Ye (@kanyewest) July 1, 2020
Some speculated that the ‘ad’ was a publicity stunt to promote their new single
However, others accused West of making the announcement as part of a publicity stunt immediately after his new single “Wash Us in the Blood” and his recently announced upcoming album “God’s Country.” Also in June, West announced an upcoming collaboration with Gap Inc, bringing a version of its popular Yeezy line to stores next year.
Despite his announced intentions to run for the highest office in the nation, according to a Ballotpedia list of state deadlines, West failed to meet the registration deadline:
- North Carolina, which required independent candidates to register by March 3
- Texas, which required independent candidates to register before May 11
- New York, which required independent candidates to register before May 26
- Maine, which required independent candidates to register before June 1
- New Mexico, which required candidates to remember it by June 25
- Indiana, which required candidates to register by June 30
While West could run in these states as a written candidate, the rules for written candidates vary from state to state and often don’t count, according to a 2016 report by The Washington Post. According to the report, states often choose to count the individual votes that all candidates receive in writing as one and place them in an “other” category.
It’s not too late for West to appear on the ballot in most states, though Colorado, Florida, Michigan, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina and West Virginia are nearing the July deadlines, according to Ballotpedia.
Candidates running for president must also register with the Federal Election Commission, which does not have a deadline. West does not appear to have registered as a candidate with the FEC, according to publicly available records. A candidate by the name of “KANYE DEEZ NUTS WEST” registered as a presidential candidate as a member of the Green Party in 2015, although he has not reported the fundraising.
West has previously hugged Trump
Kanye West visits Trump Tower with the President-elect in 2016.
Seth Wenig, File / AP Images
The rapper and fashion designer has received some criticism for his embrace of President Donald Trump. At an October 2018 meeting at the White House, West wore one of the President’s signature red fire hats “Make America Great Again.” He tweeted a photo of himself wearing the cap earlier that year.
West has long dabbled in politics, making famous headlines for a 2006 television appearance after Hurricane Katrina, where he said President “George Bush doesn’t care about blacks.”
In an interview with GQ magazine in April, West defended his choice to wear the hat and hinted that he was voting for Trump in November.
“I’m definitely going to vote this time. And we know who I’m going to vote for,” West said. “And the people around me and the people with their agenda won’t tell me that my career will end.”
Kardashian West has also worked with the Trump administration on criminal justice reform. In particular, he successfully lobbied the President in 2018 to commute the sentence for Alice Marie Johnson, a 63-year-old grandmother who was serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole for her involvement in nonviolent drug offenses for the first time. in 1996.
West’s Twitter ad has so far garnered over 450,000 retweets and 920,000 likes.
