Kanye West announces 2020 presidential run
US entertainment mogul Kanye West is planning to challenge Donald Trump for the US presidency later this year.
“We must now realise the promise of America by trusting God, unifying our vision and building our future,” the born-again billionaire rapper tweeted as Americans marked Independence Day on Saturday.
“I am running for president of the US! #2020VISION.”
West offered no further details on his supposed campaign, four months before the November election, and it is unclear if he has officially registered to run for office.
Hundreds of thousands of Twitter users reacted to the star’s announcement and “Kanye” became the top trending term on the platform.
Many questioned whether the volatile rapper would go through with his plan and others claimed it was a publicity stunt.
His wife, reality star Kim Kardashian, replied with a US flag emoji, while Tesla CEO Elon Musk wrote: “You have my full support!”
The 43-year-old has mentioned running for president several times and last year said he would run for president in 2024.
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 tete-atete that included a hug from the rapper as well as an oncamera 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 last year, 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 antiracism protests.
West has also opened up about his mental health, particularly his struggle with bipolar disorder, telling talkshow host David Letterman he felt like he had “a sprained brain, like having a sprained ankle”.
Since 2018, Kardashian has formed her own contacts with the White House as she championed criminal justice reform — she successfully lobbied Trump to pardon a sexagenarian woman for a non-violent drug offence.
For weeks now Trump, criticised for his response both to the coronavirus pandemic and to anti-racism protests, has been lagging in the polls behind Democratic rival Joe Biden.
There was no immediate response to West’s announcement from either candidate on Saturday.