Kanye West‘s presidential campaign might have started off as an ego-serving lark, but things are getting real when it comes to his impact on the 2020 election. In a new interview with Forbes magazine released on Aug. 6, Kanye was confronted with the numbers that show he has no realistic chance of even coming close to winning. He didn’t deny that he’s helping President Donald Trump, 74, get re-elected by pulling votes away from Democrat Joe Biden, 77. When writer Randall Lane told Kanye he was merely serving as an election spoiler by continuing with his campaign since he couldn’t win, the 43-year-old replied, “I’m not going to argue with you. Jesus is King.”
When asked directly if Kanye was “running to siphon votes from the presumptive Democratic nominee, Joe Biden,” Kanye replied that instead of running for president, he was “walking,” adding he was “walking…to win.” A few hours after the Forbes article dropped, the Yeezy clothing designer tweeted, “THE GOAL IS TO WIN.”
THE GOAL IS TO WIN
— ye (@kanyewest) August 7, 2020
Kanye has no chance of pulling in the 270 electoral college votes to win the presidency, and has missed the deadline to get on the ballot in many states. But in a last minute flurry, Ye’s name has been added to the ballot in several key swing states like Ohio and possibly Wisconsin. Republican operatives tied to the Trump campaign have allegedly been helping Kanye get his name get included in time to be a registered candidate, as he has no formal campaign operation.
Writer Lane added that, ”West did not respond when asked whether he feels he’s being used. When I pointed out to West that the slapdash operation to get him on the ballot, which includes one operative previously arrested for voter fraud and multiple West “electors” from the same address, didn’t feel like a Kanye West production, West replied that it was a ‘God production.’”
On Aug. 5, singer and pal John Legend called out Kanye when he shared a tweet that featured an article from Vice.com that claimed GOP strategist Lane Ruhland, who has ties to President Trump’s campaign, is also helping the rapper get on the Wisconsin ballot for the election. “Just in case anyone needs some clarity around what’s happening here,” he wrote while sharing the article. He added that anyone voting for Kanye would be “reckless and/or misinformed.”
Just in case anyone needs some clarity around what's happening here. https://t.co/6a9fQPxDu4
— John Legend (@johnlegend) August 5, 2020
Ruhland and an assistant arrived outside the Wisconsin state Elections Commission’s office in Madison right at 5 p.m. on Aug. 4 — the state’s candidate registration deadline — in a mad rush to deliver the signatures to get Kanye’s name on the ballot there, according to the Milwaukee Journal Constitution. It appears they were literally about a minute too late to secure his name as a candidate, according to the publication.
During an Aug. 5 COVID-19 briefing, Trump denied any knowledge of a campaign by his people to get Kanye on the ballot. A reporter told him, “at least two people connected to Kanye West’s effort to get on the ballot have been connected to the Republican Party,” and noted this is happening when Ye’s wife Kim Kardashian “has raised issues about whether he’s having mental issues right now.”
GOP operatives are helping Kanye West's attempts to get on state ballots for the election. Trump says he has played no part in encouraging West's potential presidential run: "I like Kanye very much. I have nothing to do with him getting on the ballot." https://t.co/Nj065CIsxp pic.twitter.com/AazZez66Mp
— CBS News (@CBSNews) August 5, 2020
Trump replied, “I like him. He’s always been very nice to me.” When asked if he was “aware of” or has “encouraged, anyone in the party” to help Kanye’s ballot efforts, “including in swing states,” Trump declared, “No, not at all. Other than I get along with him very well. I like him.” He also praised Kim as having a “good heart.”
Kanye declared he was running for president on July 4, but has since suffered a serious bipolar episode according to wife Kim. He accused her via Twitter of trying to fly doctors to Wyoming to “lock him up,” following an emotional breakdown at a July 19 campaign “rally” where he violently sobbed about wanting to abort their daughter North West, 7. He even said he didn’t care if Kim divorced him over divulging the incredibly sensitive information, telling the North Charleston, SC crowd, “Even if my wife were to divorce me after this speech, she brought North into this world, when I did not want to.”