In April, singer, performer, producer and clothing entrepreneur Kanye West announced he would vote to reelect President Trump when the time comes. Now it appears he could be a rival.
“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,” Mr. West tweeted on Saturday night to his 29.5 million followers.
Within hours, the Mr. West’s message was retweeted 479,000 times. Since then, it has drawn 981,000 likes — along with considerable attention. An online poll is already gauging Mr. West’s chances against Mr. Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk quickly revealed he would back Mr. West.
“You have my full support!” Mr. Musk tweeted.
The curious press also joined in.
“Is Kanye a Democrat or Republican?” asked Jeff Benjamin, an editor for Billboard and a correspondent to Rolling Stone, also in a tweet.
“Having leaned more into politics in recent years, including a handful of meetings with Donald Trump, the announcement follows numerous statements by West in the past about his intentions to run for the highest office in the land — most recently last November at Fast Company’s Innovation Festival. The difference with that announcement was his presidential sights were set on a 2024 bid,” said the Hollywood Reporter, which did a little more research.
“It is unclear if West has filed any paperwork necessary to run for president this election year, which would mean he’d likely have to run as a write-in candidate. As of Saturday evening, the only candidate for president named Kanye West in the Federal Elections Commission database for the 2020 election year is a Green Party candidate named “Kanye Deez Nutz West,” the news organization said.
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
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