- Kanye West announced on July 4 that he intended to run for president, and since then confusion has arisen over whether he really intends to run or not.
- This week, West’s campaign team filed documents with the Federal Election Commission and qualified to appear on the November presidential ballot in one state thus far: Oklahoma.
- West shared a manipulated image on Twitter early Friday morning showing his face on Mount Rushmore alongside the four former presidents carved at the monument.
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Although voters may still be struggling with the legitimacy of Kanye West’s presidential candidacy, the rapper already sees his place in political history in literal stone.
West tweeted an image around 3:30 a.m. Friday that appeared to show Mount Rushmore, the monument in South Dakota engraved with four former United States presidents. If you look a little closer, you will see a fifth face on the cliff: Kanye West.
—Ye (@kanyewest) July 17, 2020
West’s presidential bid has been a source of speculation and many news headlines since the rapper announced in a July 4 tweet that he would run for president in 2020. West immediately garnered the support of eccentric Tesla CEO Elon Musk, and he told Forbes in an interview. He is doing [the candidacy] to win.”
A story from New York Magazine this week seemed to indicate that West would not actually fulfill his presidential bid. However, West’s campaign has since submitted its initial forms to the Federal Election Commission showing that it has a campaign committee and has met the requirements to declare its candidacy.
Although he failed to meet deadlines in several states to qualify to appear on presidential voter ballots in November, West recently submitted the necessary documentation to appear on at least one state ballot: Oklahoma.
West’s friendship with President Donald Trump and his visits to the Trump White House have been widely documented. West said in April that she would likely vote for Trump in 2020. However, West used her Forbes questions and answers to distance herself from Trump, saying she was “taking off her red hat.”
When asked about West’s candidacy, Trump said in an interview with RealClearPolitics that he thought West should use 2020 as “a test” by 2024.
Although West’s platform is not entirely clear, the rapper told Forbes that he is running under the banner of the birthday party. He also said he is pro-life and thinks Planned Parenthood does “the devil’s job,” and that he wants to model the White House after Wakanda from the hit Marvel movie “Black Panther.”
In a national presidential poll dated July 9 by Redfield & Wilton Strategies, West surveyed 2%.
