Kanye West, candidate for president
Rapper, Producer and Designer
- Rapper, record producer and fashion designer
- born June 8, 1977, in Atlanta and raised in Chicago
- one of the world’s best-selling music artists with more than 140 million records sold worldwide
- winner of 21 Grammy Awards
- registered to vote for the first time on July 9, 2020 in Wyoming
- Selected Michelle Tidball, 57, a Christian preacher from Cody, Wyo., as his running mate
- has been open about his struggle with bipolar disorder, and his wife, Kim Kardashian has asked the public and media to grant him compassion, reported in the New York Times.
- Al Jazeera described West as having “a Republican-leaning, pro-Black religious platform.”
- It is mathematically impossible for him to earn the 270 electoral votes needed to win the election, according to Intelligencer.
To vote click below https://t.co/LRJ8hC5rGi#2020VISION pic.twitter.com/MJOVGYYYvQ
— ye (@kanyewest) July 9, 2020
West’s campaign slogan: “Kanye West YES”
“When I’m president, let’s also have some fun. Let’s get past all the racism conversation; let’s empower people with 40 acres and a mule; let’s give some land, that’s the plan,” he said in his four-hour Forbes interview.
West says he will run as an independent under a new banner: the Birthday Party.
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
Abortion
In July 2020, West said, “I am pro-life because I’m following the word of the Bible” and added that “Planned Parenthoods have been placed inside cities by white supremacists to do the Devil’s work,” according to his interview with Forbes.
Kanye added that his own mother, Donda West, decided to carry him to term, despite his father wanting an abortion.
West clarified that he thinks abortion should be legal, but that there should be more support for those who need it at his first campaign rally July 20 in North Charleston, South Carolina, where West did not file a petition and would not be on the ballot in the state.
“The maximum increase would be everybody that has a baby gets a million dollars or something in that range,” he said.
Marijuana
West said that marijuana “should be free” at his first campaign rally, according to ABC News.
COVID-19
West has said that he contracted COVID-19 in February 2020, according to Wikipedia. In July 2020, West raised his concerns about a hypothetical COVID-19 vaccine, calling vaccines the “mark of the beast.” West alleged that vaccinated children become paralyzed and that “the humans that have the Devil inside them” want to implement microchips into people, therefore preventing them from entering heaven. When asked about how to address the disease, West suggested prayer and that people “stop doing things that make God mad,” according to Pitchfork.
Guns
“The problem is illegal guns. Illegal guns is the problem, not legal guns,” West said. “We have the right to bear arms,” West said while visiting President Trump in the Oval Office in October 2018, which gave the rapper the support of the NRA, as reported by Newsweek.
“The #NRA’s nearly six million members are glad to see a celebrity who gets it, and who is will to stand with the #2A.”
Economy/minimum wage/income inequality
In July 2020, West called for the return of a pre-industrial agrarian society, which would include plans to start hydroponic cotton, wheat and hemp farming in Cody, Wyo.
West put forth the “Democratic plantation” theory in 2018 that welfare is a tool used by the Democratic Party to keep African-Americans as an underclass that remains reliant on the party, according to Mic.
Education/student debt/free tuition
In July 2020, West said schools were “made for us to not truly be all we can be but to be just good enough to work for the corporations that designed the school systems.”
West said removing prayer in school was a plot by the devil that increased the suicide rate among children and murder rate in Chicago during his interview with Forbes.
Climate change/environment
West has called for more research on making dyeing more environmentally safe. “”Dyeing is one of the main things that’s impacting the planet and the fashion industry, so just being responsible from A to Z,” as reported in 2019 by the Associated Press.
Foreign policy
In July, West said he needed to further work on his foreign policy but, “I’m focused on protecting America, first, with our great military. Let’s focus on ourselves first.”
On China, West, who lived in Nanjing, China, during his childhood, said:
“I love China. It’s not China’s fault that [COVID-19] disease. It’s not the Chinese people’s fault. They’re God’s people also,” during the interview with Forbes.
On President Trump
“Trump is the closest president we’ve had in years to allowing God to still be part of the conversation,” West said but that the country is a “big mess” now.
“I don’t like that I caught wind that he hid in the bunker,” West said of Trump.
The Secret Service moved the president and his family to a secure bunker under the White House on May 29 during clashes with protesters against the police killing of George Floyd.
Government model
West said he envisions a White House model based on the secret country of Wakanda in the hit sci-fi film Black Panther.
“A lot of Africans do not like the movie [Black Panther] and representation of themselves in…Wakanda,” he said. “But I’m gonna use the framework of Wakanda right now because it’s the best explanation of what our design group is going to feel like in the White House.”
Military
West said in July 2020 that he wanted to cut the military budget while maintaining “commitment to rule of law and strong national defense.”
Black Lives Matter and police brutality
In November 2016, West told African-Americans to “stop focusing on racism. This world is racist, OK? Let’s stop being distracted to focus on that as much. We are in a racist country, period,” but clarified that his support for President Trump did not mean he did not “believe in Black Lives Matter,” according to Mashable.
In June 2020, West participated in the George Floyd protests and donated $2 million to help victims of the rioting during the demonstrations. The next month, West said that one of his priorities would be to end police brutality, adding “police are people too.”