On Saturday, just four months before the 2020 election, Donald Trump’s musician, provocateur, and former supporter Kanye West tweeted that he was launching his own bid to become president.
“Now we must deliver on America’s promise by trusting God, unifying our vision, and building our future. I am running for President of the United States! # 2020VISION, ”West wrote on Independence Day.
His tweet was powered by his wife, reality star and entrepreneur Kim Kardashian West, and was endorsed by Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. Fellow artists like rapper 2Chainz complained that he was upset that he voted in the Georgia primary, implying that he would rather have waited to vote for West, but that won’t be possible in many states where the deadlines have already passed for names are added to preprinted voting forms.
So far, however, there is little indication that West intends to follow through on his campaign announcement. This year, no official FEC application has been filed under the name West (however in 2015 Kanye “Deez Nuts” West made a parody submission).
In 2020, West would be forced to run as an independent, as Joe Biden has already become the alleged Democratic candidate and Republicans are unlikely to replace him with Trump. Deadlines for appearing on multi-state ballots as independents are also fast approaching, and the opportunity to run in six major states, including delegate-rich Texas and New York, have already passed. West would have to mount a campaign and present documents at breakneck speed to even be considered a viable candidate in the most traditional sense.
Of course, a victory for the West could be possible (although, again, highly unlikely) through a series of base scriptures, which is more of an exercise in heaven thought than anything else.
To further narrow his chances, written voting is not even possible in eight states, and even if he could have won the popular vote in other states, he would have had to appear before Election Day with many other states in order to import.
So what is West’s ploy? Is your last minute campaign an attempt to take away votes from Biden? Or is the whole effort just a PR stunt?
West has always found his way into presidential politics. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, West declared controversially live on television that “George W. Bush doesn’t care about blacks.” West spoke openly about what he believed was the President’s failure to reach ill black families in Louisiana after the deadly storm.
After West interrupted Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, President Obama called him an “asshole.”
In 2012, West accused Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney of not paying his taxes.
In 2018, West made new waves by supporting Trump and calling the Republican President “his brother,” who he says possesses “dragon energy.” In 2019, his defense of Trump became much sharper, accusing Democrats of controlling the black community and mocking his own future with a simple “2024”.
West and his wife Kardashian-West helped promote criminal justice reform legislation and have visited the White House on several occasions.
Biden’s campaign has yet to comment publicly on West’s announcement to run for president. When asked by ABC News for comment, the Trump campaign simply said, “God bless the United States.”
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