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Kanye West Gets Mixed Reaction After Announcing Presidential Run

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Kanye West
Kanye West

Could the Wests be taking over the White House soon?

Kanye West has announced his intention to run for US President in a move that has raised way more questions than answers. In a whirlwind of reactions worldwide, he’s officially re-entered the charts, been endorsed by Elon Musk, and has been the #1 trending topic since Saturday night’s announcement. Yeezy is a self-promotion guru who is known to use outlandish and over the top marketing, stunts to pitch everything from his studio efforts to new merch, so much so that many have already called his bluff.

“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”.. he casually tweeted last night. Whether he’s Democrat, Republican or even actually serious remains to be seen as well as what we can expect from candidate West.

What could be better than being Yeezus? Being President of the United States, of course, and this isn’t the first time that Kanye has publicly teased his intentions to run. The rapper who once spit “2020 I’ mma run the whole election” on his 2015’s “Facts” also announced the news at the MTV VMA’s that same year where he received the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award. He’s backtracked in recent years, endorsing Trump’s presidency in 2018 wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat during an Oval Office appearance and last November, declaring he’d run in 2024 instead. Since the 4th of July Twitterbomb, Kanye has received more than 500,000 retweets, a million likes as well as support from billionaire friend Elon Musk, Ty Dolla Sign, and model wife, Kim-Kardashian West.

But the “Fade” rapper wouldn’t be his contentious self without drawing some backlash for his ‘late registration.’ Critics have expressed concern over the timing and repercussions for West’s so-called swing at politics, whether or not he’s serious. The LA Times printed that “it’s unclear whether West has filed any of the necessary paperwork to formally join the race” theorizing that his candidacy “might be part of an effort to draw Black supporters away from Joe Biden to help Trump,” who he’s previously demonstrated admiration for.

Fans and peers in the industry have noted that he’s still unregistered with the Federal Election Commission, that many deadlines have passed to be eligible to appear on November’s ballot, his obvious lack of experience for the role as well as Ye’s track record of rash and sudden gimmicks. Reactions have ranged from dismissal to mockery and anger that the influential rapper’s ploy could impact the election outcome and cost Democrats their only chance to unseat the unsavory incumbent Donald Trump.

Sports commentator Jemele Hill warned the Twitterverse not to waste precious energy responding while Band of Ghosts frontman Eric Balfour fired off in his tweeted reply: “Do you guys think this is all a joke? That potentially pulling votes away from the only nominee who can defeat Donald Trump is cute or funny? This is the height of privilege, ultimately it won’t hurt you, you’re wealthy enough to survive 4 more years of Trump!” Paris Hilton and White House Correspondent April also chimed in with their reactions.

Kanye West is many things, and we’ll know soon enough if a politician is one of them. Would you vote for Kanye if he ran in the election? Is the ‘college dropout’ president material, or is this a ‘beautiful, twisted fantasy’?

J Cole
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