Kanye West in presidential bid under ‘Birthday Party’ banner
KANYE WEST has said he will run for the White House under the banner of the “Birthday Party” and is ending his past support for Donald Trump.
In his first interview since tweeting that he would seek the US presidency – and during what Forbes magazine described as “four rambling hours of interviews” – the 43-year-old rapper gave insights into his political thinking as well as making a number of controversial statements.
West said he had never voted before but had been thinking about a campaign for years, and would run under the label of the Birthday Party “because when we win, it’s everybody’s birthday”. He claimed he was no longer supporting Mr Trump – despite the interviewer noting West had texted him a few weeks ago with the message “Trump 2020” – saying: “I am taking the red hat off, with this interview.”
West said he had selected Michelle Tidball, a Wyoming preacher, as his running mate, and suggested Elon Musk would head up his administration’s space programme if he won.
The musician also claimed that his White House would be modelled on the fictional country of Wakanda from the 2018 film Black Panther.
He disclosed he had had coronavirus in February, but expressed suspicion over development of a vaccine: “When they say the way we’re going to fix Covid is with a vaccine, I’m extremely cautious.”
He criticised Joe Biden for saying that voters “ain’t black” if they support Mr Trump, and claimed the presumptive Democratic nominee was not “special” enough to be a good leader.
He also said he was against abortion, claiming the pro-choice group Planned Parenthood does “the devil’s work”.
Asked about taxation and foreign policy, he said he would need to consider both topics further.