Kanye West Wingin’ it: a serious 2020 White House bid could have big obstacles

If Kanye West is serious about running for president, the American rapper and fashion designer will face major obstacles to mount a serious campaign less than four months before the November 3 US presidential election. West, who said in a July 4 Twitter post that he was running, would have to work fast to get his name on the ballot alongside President Donald Trump, a Republican, and the presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden, in all 50 states plus the District of Columbia. 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 One of Trump’s celebrity supporters, West would have two routes to doing so. He could try secure the backing of a smaller political party, said James McCann, a political scientist at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. Without a party helping him get on the ballot, another option would be to try to appear as an independent candidate. But deadlines for registering that way have already passed in a handful of states, including New Mexico and key battleground North Carolina. Getting on the ballot as an independent would also require hiring staff or recruiting volunteers to quickly gather many tens of thousands of signatures across the nation before other registration periods close in August and September, a task currently made more difficult by the coronavirus pandemic. “It’s hard to see Kanye West having a field operation,” said McCann, adding that another option would be for West to ask supporters to write his name on the ballot. It is unclear if West, who is also known for his marriage to reality TV star Kim Kardashian West, has filed any official paperwork to appear on state election ballots. Kanye West is worth US$1.3 billion: what does he like to spend all his money on? West, a celebrity highly skilled in grabbing the spotlight, has previously announced plans to run for president without doing so. Last week he entered a 10-year deal with Gap to create a line of clothing carrying the “Yeezy” brand name. He made headlines during a visit to the White House in October 2018 when he delivered a rambling, profanity-laden speech in which he discussed alternative universes and his diagnosis of bipolar disorder. Three weeks later, he said he was distancing himself from politics and that he believed he had been used to spread messages he did not believe in. Even with a serious campaign, West would be unlikely to draw more than a few percentage points of the vote, peeling away similar numbers of votes from Trump and Biden, said Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia’s Centre for Politics. “He’s got a long way to go even to convince us that he’s serious,” said Sabato. The 43-year-old has mentioned running for president several times and he said last year he would run for president in 2024. Kim Kardashian’s ill-fitting trademark sparks ‘KimOhNo’ backlash West long ago broke ranks with most of the left-leaning entertainment industry to loudly voice his support for Trump. In 2018, they met in the Oval Office – a surreal tête-à-tête that included a hug from the rapper as well as an on-camera rant featuring an expletive not often repeated for the White House press corps. That year, West also delivered a lengthy soliloquy to a president who many deem racist, telling him he loved him – to the dismay of many Democrats and fellow artists. But in 2019, during an interview with Zane Lowe of Apple Music’s Beats 1 show, he said his support for Trump had been a way to razz Democrats – and announced his own presidential ambitions. “There will be a time when I will be the president of the US, and I will remember … any founder that didn’t have the capacity to understand culturally what we were doing.” It was unclear to whom the artist was referring. The announcement came days after West, who has taken a very public turn towards Christianity in recent years, released a new song, Wash Us In the Blood, along with an accompanying video including imagery from recent anti-racism protests. West has also opened up about his mental health, particularly his struggle with bipolar disorder, telling talk-show host David Letterman he feels like he has “a sprained brain, like having a sprained ankle.” Kim Kardashian returns to White House to talk prison reform with Trump officials Still, hundreds of thousands of Twitter users reacted to the star’s announcement and “Kanye” shot to become the top trending term on the platform, although many questioned whether the volatile rapper would go through with his plan and others claimed it was a publicity stunt. His wife replied with a US flag emoji, while Tesla CEO Elon Musk wrote: “You have my full support!” The most recent candidate to put significant effort into launching a presidential campaign a few months before the election was Evan McMullin, a former CIA operative who announced his bid in August 2016. McMullin only appeared on the ballot in 11 states, receiving 0.53 per cent of the popular vote. “There’s a way to run as an outsider but it’s hard and expensive, and I think West, or anyone else, has missed their window of opportunity to have a meaningful impact,” said Nathan Gonzales, editor of Inside Elections, which provides non-partisan analysis of campaigns. Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse

Kanye West Wingin’ it: a serious 2020 White House bid could have big obstacles

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} Kanye West says he’s running for president, four months before the November election It is unclear if this is a publicity stunt for himself or a project unrelated to the presidency

Kanye West says he’s running for president, four months before the November election

It is unclear if this is a publicity stunt for himself or a project unrelated to the presidency