“Joe Biden’s not special”, says Kanye West ahead of his run for President in 2020 on the “Birthday Party” ticket. Ava DeSantis writes how West brands himself as the candidate of God.
On July 4th, rapper and businessman Kanye West tweeted “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!” This Wednesday, midway through a Forbes interview about his statement, West confirmed his intentions to run for President.
A former Trump supporter, West said through his Forbes interview he is “taking the red hat off.” West lost faith in President Trump when Trump hid in a bunker during the George Floyd protests. On Friday, May 29th, Trump went to an underground bunker as protestors gathered outside the White House.
“I don’t like that I caught wind that he hid in the bunker,” said West. “It seems like one big mess to me.” He was even more critical of Biden, who he accused of “a form of racism and white supremacy.”
On campaign strategy
Kanye West remains unconcerned that he may split the Black vote, and not concerned that he may hurt Biden’s campaign. West called this particular concern a form of white supremacy, which the Democratic Party is guilty of propagating. “That is a form of racism and white supremacy and white control,” said West, “to say that all Black people need to be Democrat and to assume that me running is me splitting the vote.”
In fact, West does not seem to concern himself with polling or strategy at all. “Let’s see if the appointing is at 2020 or if it’s 2024 — because God appoints the president,” said West. “If I win in 2020 then it was God’s appointment. If I win in 2024 then that was God’s appointment.”
West decided to run for President in the shower. “I was in the shower, thinking, I write raps in the shower. It hit me to say, ‘You’re going to run for president,’ and I started laughing hysterically,” recounted West. “I was, like, this is the best, I’m going to go out there, and they’re going to think I’m going to do these songs and do this for entertainment, how rigged awards shows are, and then say I’m going to run for president. And I just laughed in the shower, I don’t know for how long, but that’s the moment it hit me.” God, said West, “just gave me the clarity and said it’s time.”
Black voters, said West, faced threats to support the Democratic Party or else. “The reason why this is the first day I registered to vote is because I was scared. I was told that if I voted on Trump my music career would be over. I was threatened into being in one party. I was threatened as a celebrity into being in one party. I was threatened as a Black man into the Democratic Party. And that’s what the Democrats are doing, emotionally, to my people.”
West referenced Biden’s comment in a campaign interview on “The Breakfast Club” with Charlamagne tha God. In the interview, Biden said “if you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black.”
Biden is not “special,” said West, unlike Presidents of recent history. “I’m not saying Trump’s in my way, he may be part of my way. And Joe Biden? Like come on man, please. You know? Obama’s special. Trump’s special. We say Kanye West is special. America needs special people that lead,” he said. “Bill Clinton? Special. Joe Biden’s not special.”
He runs on the ticket of his own, newly invented, Birthday Party because “when we win, it’s everybody’s birthday.” Kanye’s wife, Kim Kardashian West advises the campaign. Elon Musk briefly endorsed West, before seeing a tweet which pointed out that West is pro-life and anti-vaccine. Musk replied to the tweet “we may have more differences of opinion than I anticipated.”
Policy to ‘Serve God’
While West’s campaign may be unclear, as he believes that God will select the President, he then laid out a fairly defined policy agenda. He says he supported Trump because “Trump is the closest president we’ve had in years to allowing God to still be part of the conversation.” However, Trump’s “hotels and the saxophones in the lobby” also influenced his support for Trump.
West focuses his entire policy agenda around his religion.
On coronavirus, West says we need to pray to cure the pandemic. “We pray. We pray for the freedom. It’s all about God. We need to stop doing things that make God mad,” he argued.
Vaccines, which West believes prevent the vaccinated from entering heaven, are not the solution. “It’s so many of our children that are being vaccinated and paralyzed,” West said. “So when they say the way we’re going to fix Covid is with a vaccine, I’m extremely cautious. That’s the mark of the beast. They want to put chips inside of us, they want to do all kinds of things, to make it where we can’t cross the gates of heaven. I’m sorry when I say they, the humans that have the Devil inside them. And the sad thing is that, the saddest thing is that we all won’t make it to heaven, that there’ll be some of us that do not make it.”
West is pro-life because “I’m following the word of the Bible.” West says police brutality is one of his priorities, “one of my to-do lists is to end police brutality.” On police brutality in the wake of the George Floyd killing, West said “God has already started the healing.” We need to do more “praying and healing,” to continue to address police brutality. To bring “the love and fear of God” back to America, West would see prayer mandated in schools. He is against the death penalty because the Ten Commandments say “thou shalt not kill.”
West does not intend to pursue Trump’s policy of tense relations with China. “I love China,” said West. “I love China. It’s not China’s fault that disease.” West referenced President Trump repeatedly blaming the Chinese government for the spread of the coronavirus to the US. “It’s not the Chinese people’s fault,” West countered. “They’re God’s people also. I love China.”
Kanye is, with his policy, says he is “in service of our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ. West “put everything” he has “on the line to serve God.”