Kanye West took to Twitter on the Fourth of July with a major announcement: He is running for U.
S. president in 2020.
“We must now realize the promise of America by trusting God, unifying our vision and building our future,” the rapper wrote, and finished it by plainly stating, “I am running for president of the United States!”
This is not the first time the artist, producer, record label executive and fashion designer teased his presidential campaign, as he previously intended to run in 2024.
He opened up his plans in a 2018 interview, and said, “I’m going to make sure that the medical industry flourishes. There’s one thing I learned by hanging around with Jay-Z, and being married to my wife, is you can’t fuck up the paper.. That’s the problem with a lot of the radical leaders in the past.”
In an event last November, he said, “When I run for president in 2024, we would’ve created so many jobs that I’m not going to run, I’m going to walk.”
His decision means he will have to compete with his “brother” Donald Trump, whom he had been a vocal supporter even before the President took office.
The Grammy award-winning hip-hop artist previously praised Trump in various interviews, and sported one of the red and white Make America Great Again hat in public.
However, he seemingly distanced himself from the controversial politician since the late 2018.
“My eyes are now wide open and now realize I’ve been used to spread messages I don’t believe in. I am distancing myself from politics and completely focusing on being creative,” he tweeted, before focusing on music and fashion.
Originally, West planned to vote for Trump in November, but his recent appearance at a police brutality protest in Chicago suggests he may not be as down with the President’s agenda.
West received an enthusiastic endorsement from no other than Elon Musk, just minutes after his announcement.