Kanye West’s tweet about running for president was no joke — he’s gearing up to take on Donald Trump and Joe Biden in the 2020 election, and he opened up more about it in an interview with Forbes. Needless to say, Kanye is confident in his chance at winning the election. “For the other candidates, I just gracefully suggest y’all bow out,” he told the mag. “Trump and Biden, bow out now. It’s God’s country, we are doing everything in service to God, nobody but God no more. I am in service of our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ, and I put everything I get on the line to serve God.”
During the Forbes interview, Kanye confirmed that his bid to run for president wasn’t a publicity stunt to promote his next album, like many assumed. He also revealed that he has two advisors on his team right now — his wife, Kim Kardashian, and Elon Musk, who both publicly supported ‘Ye on social media after he announced his decision to run. The rapper also already has a running mate — Michelle Tidball, who is a preacher from Wyoming, where ‘Ye has recently been spending quite a bit of time.
Kanye previously backed President Trump, but changed his tune in recent weeks. “It looks like one big mess to me,” he said, regarding the current state of Trump’s presidency. “I don’t like that I caught wind that he hid in the bunker.” (Here, ‘Ye is referring to Trump being transported to an ’emergency bunker’ when protests took place outside the White House after George Floyd’s death in June). However, it appears that Joe Biden is the candidate that Kanye really takes issue with.
“Joe Biden? Come on, man, please,” Kanye said. “You know? [Barack] Obama’s special. Trump’s special. We say Kanye West is special. America needs special people that lead. Bill Clinton? Special. Joe Biden’s not special.” He also addressed those who say his presidential run is just another way for him to support Trump (i.e. by splitting the Democratic vote between himself and Biden, so that Trump receives the majority). “That is a form of racism and white supremacy and white control to say that all Black people need to be Democrat and to assume that me running is me splitting the vote,” he insisted. “All of that information is being charged up on social media platforms by Democrats.”
Kanye will be running as an Independent, although he confirmed that he would have run for the Republican party if Trump was not in the picture. He also said that his political party is the ‘Birthday Party.’ No joke.
The 43-year-old admitted that he has never voted in a presidential election before, but said that he registered to vote this year. “I was told that if I voted on Trump, my music career would be over,” Kanye explained. “I was threatened into being in one party. I was threatened as a celebrity into being in one party. I was threatened as a Black man into the Democratic party. And that’s what the Democrats are doing, emotionally, to my people — threatening them to the point where this white man [Joe Biden] can tell a Black man, ‘If you don’t vote for me, you’re not Black.'”
Kanye said that he first knew he would run for president after winning the Video Vanguard Award at the MTV VMAs in 2015. However, his decision to actually go for it in 2020 came after he got “clarity” from God. “My campaign is Kanye West YES,” he revealed. “Not YEP, not YEAH. YES. YES. YES. When I’m president, let’s also have some fun. Let’s get past all this racism conversation. Let’s empower people with 40 acres and a mule, let’s give some land. That’s the plan.”
As for his to-do list if he gets elected, Kanye is focused on ending police brutality, cleaning up chemicals, “reinstating the fear and love of God in all schools,” and focusing on “protecting America with our great military,” as opposed to worrying about foreign policy. He also revealed that he is pro-life and against the death penalty.
