Can Kanye West Actually Run For President?
On America's national holiday, Independence Day, Kanye West announced - not for the first time - that he plans to run for US president.
When you ask? 2020. This year.
The announcement came in the form of an out-of-the-blue tweet amid the 43-year-old's promotion for his new single, pictures of him with Elon Musk (who has voiced his support for a West presidency, FYI) and promotion of the Gap X Yeezy collaboration.
'We must now realise the promise of America by trusting God, unifying our vision and building our future. I am running for president of the United States,' West wrote on Twitter followed by #2020Vision, indicating it is this year's presidential race he intends to run in.
We must now realize the promise of America by trusting God, unifying our vision and building our future. I am running for president of the United States 🇺🇸! #2020VISION
— ye (@kanyewest) July 5, 2020
The tweet was met with support from Kim Kardashian, who retweeted her husband's tweet alongside an American flag.
After the shock over the announcement, West's message was met with scepticism, given that we are only four months away from when Americans are supposedly heading to the polls.
So, could Kanye West actually run for president this year, and if so, how could he do it?
If West did run for president, he wouldn't be able to do it for either of the main two political parties in the US, the Republicans or Democrats. Their candidates have already been presumed: current president Donald Trump for the GOP (Republican party) and former Vice President Joe Biden for the Democrats.
Biden has already beaten several other candidates who aimed to secure the Democratic nomination, including Senator Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders.
And even if West did want to run for one of the two parties, it's actually not clear which route he would take.
The rapper has appeared to show support for both democrats and republicans since his rise to fame. He once denounced Republican president George W. Bush, famously accusing him of not 'caring about Black people' during the tragic Hurricane Katrina. However, in recent years, he has declared his support for Trump, both verbally and symbolically, by wearing a Make America Great Again red cap and holding meeting with the 45th President.
I got my selfie!!! I really loved hearing her speak & hearing her goals for our country! #HillaryForPresident pic.twitter.com/zGpdcGSZBD
— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) August 7, 2015
However, he has also confirmed that in the 2016 election, he did not vote for anyone, neither Trump nor Clinton. His wife, Kim Kardashian and her famous family all backed the Democrats and the former Secretary of State in her race.
So, Kanye West would have to run as an independent candidate...
There is technically a way that West could still run for president, according to reports. He would have to register as an independent candidate. And this would depend on where he wanted to run, as deadlines for those intending to run in several states have already passed.
According to US media, there is still time to register in some states, but for Texas, New Mexico, Indiana, Maine and North Carolina the deadline has passed. For the majority of other states, the deadline is August.
If West ran separate to the two party system, he could do so for a party like the Green party. However, there is controversy surrounding these candidates.
In 2016, many Democrat voters voiced their outrage at those candidates failing to pull out in the later stages of the elections, when it seemed likely from initial polls that they would not win, as they believed this split the non-GOP vote and contributed to Trump's largely unexpected victory.
Or West could run completely independently. According to The New York Times, running without this backing is incredibly difficult and entering the race at this time would mean the Yeezy founder would face 'many obstacles'.
It is also not clear, according to the newspaper, if West has filed any official paperwork or sourced funding for a supposed presidential campaign yet.
As the BBC reports:
'He does not appear to have registered his name with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) for November's election. The closest name the FEC database shows is a candidate called "Kanye Deez Nutz West", who filed their papers with the Green Party in 2015 under the address "1977 Golddigger Avenue, Suite Yeezus" and appears to have raised no money.
Has Kanye West said he would run for president before?
Yes, several times.
In 2015, at the MTV VMAs West made the same announcement while accepting an award. He later doubled down on that claim in follow-up interviews, but last year said he would likely postpone his presidential ambitions to 2024.
What would a Kanye West presidency look like?
Given his back-and-forth political allegiance, this is not clear cut. West has repeatedly argued for free speech and supports entrepreneurship - evident by the fact he's founded his own company and admires businessmen like Trump and Musk.
Recent political actions from West include him marching in Black Lives Matter uprisings in Chicago, following the death of George Floyd, and establishing a college fund for Floyd's daughter.
Kim Kardashian West has become a political tour de force in recent years too, working in the area of criminal justice reform (and training to be a lawyer), and successfully securing clemency for some of her clients by working directly with President Trump. So, if West were to become president, it's likely we'd have a committed and vocal First Lady too.
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