“I am not crazy,” the rapper declares claiming God gave him the clarity to run for president, while also giving up support for Trump
In a recent exclusive interview with Forbes that was published online, Wednesday, entrepreneur and singer/rapper Kanye West has revealed several things: that his plans of running for presidency is definite for this year, that he is not crazy, and he is no longer supporting Trump. It can be recalled that over the holiday weekend, he announced on Twitter that he intends to run for the highest post in the White House, accompanied by #2020VISION. This created a noise over social media, and conversations sparked about his actual intentions.
Trump no more
The American musician, who is also popular for owning several businesses such as record labels, also shared he lost confidence for incumbent US president Donald Trump. West is known to have been a vocal supporter of Trump, meeting up with him on the past years. According to the Christian rapper, he has been championing the president before because for him, “Trump is the closest president we’ve had in years to allowing God to still be part of the conversation.”
The reason for the rapper’s decision to drop his support was because, “I don’t like that I caught wind that he hid in the bunker.” West was referring to the time when it was reported that the president, along with his wife and son, sought protection by going to a security bunker last month for at least one hour. That time, protests against racial inequality and police brutality were ramping up outside the White House and all over the country following the death of George Floyd while in the custody of a cop.
Presidential race and racism
“I would run as a Republican if Trump wasn’t there. I will run as an independent if Trump is there,” West told Forbes on the possible political party he could have. He declared though that his candidacy will be an independent party called “Birthday Party.”
Further, he remarked that it was God who selects the president. West mentioned that “If I win in 2020, then it was God’s appointment. If I win in 2024, then that was God’s appointment.” The singer also revealed his slogan for campaigning: “YES.”
The multi-awarded singer shared that God gave him the clarity. He added: “I’m not crazy. Between all of the influences and the positions that we can be put in as musicians, you go on tour, you put out all these albums, and you don’t have any money in your account. It can drive you crazy, through all of that I was looking crazy because it wasn’t the time. Now it’s time. And we’re not going crazy.”
West also addressed the issue that he would just cause a split in vote if he actually pursued his candidacy, which conversations say might just push for Trump’s reelection, he declared: “That is a form of racism and white supremacy and white control to say that all Black people need to be Democrat and to assume that me running is me splitting the vote.” The musician expressed that while previous presidents, such as Trump, are special, Democratic nominee Joe Biden is “not special.”
Plans, platform, and policies
Among the things that he aspired to do for the country is to pattern the White House from an idea inspired by Marvel Movie ‘Black Panther.’ In addition, he also told Forbes that he plans not to “tear up the Constitution” but to make amendments. He admitted as well that he has no foreign policy yet, and that should he win, he will prioritize the military to protect America. Although he committed that the NBA should be joined by players from different countries, like China, and as a pro-life being a professed Christian, he is against abortion and death penalty.
“I don’t have all the pieces in the puzzle,” he confessed humbly. He then went on to say that he is not running, “I’m walking… we the people are walking. We’re not running anymore, we’re not running, we’re not excited—we are energized.”