Kanye West announced his presidential bid on the 4th of July. The ‘Graduation’ rapper confirmed he voted for himself on Oct. 9.
Kanye West, 43, has seemingly accepted defeat in the 2020 presidential election. The Yeezy designer took to Twitter on election night, posting a photo of himself in front of a television screen declaring which states are projected to be won by democratic nominee Joe Biden, 77, or current republican president Donald Trump, 74. “WELP,” he wrote, adding “KANYE 2024” — suggesting he’s gearing up to run again in the next election. He already voted for himself in the current election.
If Kanye does indeed run again, it would’t be a surprise: the rapper recently declared his “calling” is to be the leader of the free world in a three-hour interview with Joe Rogan. “There couldn’t be a better time to put a visionary in the captain’s chair,” he said on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast interview, which was cancelled and then apparently rescheduled. “I’m not here to down Trump or down Biden, I’m just here to express why God has called me to take this position. I’m a great leader because I listen and I’m empathetic. I do believe in world peace,” he explained.
Kanye surprised his fans — and the world — when he announced his presidential bid on the 4th of July. “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 tweeted. Wife Kim Kardashian, 40, appeared to endorse her husband’s run with a retweet and the addition of an American flag emoji. Weeks later, Kanye held his first rally event in South Carolina where he was emotional as he confessed he and Kim had almost aborted their eldest daughter North, now 7.
The rapper has been vocal about his pro-life stance in past interviews, but took the rally as an opportunity to share that he does believe abortions should be legal. “In 2020, abortion should be legal. My stance is not to make abortion illegal at all,” he told the crowd. ‘It should always be legal but there should be an option of maximum increase,” he added, noting that maximum increase is, “everybody that has a baby gets a million dollars, or something.” Since Kanye announced his run, several celebrities — including John Legend and Jennifer Aniston — have been critical of his run, urging their fans to vote for Joe Biden.
During the his chat with Joe Rogan, Kanye also shared that Oprah Winfrey, 66, had given him some advice. “I remember running into Oprah two days or one day after that, and she’s like ‘you don’t want to be president’,” the Chicago native confessed. “One of the things Oprah said is she said, ‘you got to bone up on your foreign affairs.’ I remember this, because it’s Oprah talking, so I’m gonna remember a lot of what the conversation was, but that’s the first thing she said was foreign affairs and foreign policies,” he explained.