Kanye West says he’s running for president, but may not end up on the ballot

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Kanye West performing at Lollapalooza Chile in 2011.

Trevor Babcock

Artist Kanye West tweeted Saturday he is entering the 2020 U.S presidential election, an idea he has been teasing since 2015. Originally, West planned to delay his bid for the presidency until 2024 after he publicly showed support for President Donald Trump.

West immediately received an endorsement from Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who responded to West’s tweet with, “You have my full support!”

In West’s tweet he says, “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.”

The language of the tweet suggests a Christian values-focused approach, in line with West’s recent transition to making strictly Christian music. The vague statements, “unifying our vision” and “building our future” don’t suggest much about West’s potential political platform. 

However, West has missed the deadline to be an independent candidate on the ballot in many states, with many states about to reach their deadline. West also hasn’t registered with the Federal Election Commission, among several other necessary steps to be on a ballot in any state. 

Fans have suggested West is making this announcement to generate hype around his upcoming album, which was teased last week. This would not be out of character for West, who has a history of deactivating and reactivating his Twitter account to make viral tweets coinciding with an album release. 

West has recently joined protests against racial injustice and donated $2 million to the families of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor, all killed due to police brutality. 

But before the recent surge in the Black Lives Matter movement, West said in a 2018 interview that 400 years of slavery sounded like a choice. In the same interview West said if he ran his platform would be, “the Trump campaign and maybe the Bernie Sanders principles. That would be my mix.”

Many fans of West have distanced themselves from the artist and became unlikely fans after West first announced support for President Trump. West went further by saying wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat made him feel like Superman and was photographed visiting the Oval Office.