KANYE FOR P Hip-Hop legend has bumpy road trying to get on 2020 ballots Story by Zach King // Design by Nick Drexler
A
merican rapper and billionaire Kanye West announced the start of his presidential campaign on July 4, 2020, via Twitter. The controversial hip-hop figurehead turned politician 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! #2020VISION.” Kanye previously made headlines regarding his political views in the past few years due to his friendship with Republican President Donald Trump. On Sept. 30, 2018, Kanye went on a politically influenced rant during the closing credits of Saturday Night Live on NBC. He’s also become famous for his sporadic actions on a public stage, one major example being when he took the microphone away from Taylor Swift at the 2009 MTV Video and Music Awards in the middle of her award acceptance speech. Some have attributed Kanye’s decision to run for President to his bipolar disorder, something he openly addresses on his past four studio albums. He said he is not medicated for the disorder. However, his behavior on Twitter has sparked a conversation on his mental health. Others speculated Kanye’s announcement to run for office as just another ploy to gain hype for his album “Donda,” however the album has yet to drop and Kanye has yet to halt his pursuit to appear on voters ballots Nov. 3. On July 7, 2020, a spokesperson for the Federal Election Commission, or FEC,
22 BAGPIPE
told Billboard that Kanye had not filed the required paperwork in time to make his bid official. However, Kanye would complete his registration on July 16, his home address being his Cody, Wyoming home, and his affiliated party being named “The Birthday Party,” becoming eligible to apply to be on ballots in all 50 US states. When asked why he named his independent political party “The Birthday Party” by a Forbes interviewer, the rapper replied, “Because when we win, it’s everybody’s birthday.” He nominated Michelle Tidball, a Christian preacher from Wyoming, as his running mate.
“WHEN WE WIN, IT’S EVERYBODY’S BIRTHDAY.” “It’s always tricky judging celebrities and people in the entertainment industry on what they really believe,” junior Jack Tatum said, President of the Highland Park branch of Turning Point USA. “We think it’s great that he wants to align more with views that are exotic to his kind of industry. He doesn’t have to think like everyone else.” On July 19, Kanye held his first official campaign rally in South Carolina. During the rally, he discussed subjects such as guns, saying that “Guns don’t kill people. People kill people.” He also made other controversial statements at the rally, like his comment about black history. “Harriet Tubman actually never freed the slaves, she just had the slaves go work for other white people,” he said. The defining moment of the rally was
when Kanye broke into tears while admitting that he and his wife Kim Kardashian West considered having an abortion with the pregnancy that later became his daughter, North. He reportedly suggested that instead of offering Plan B, a morning-after contraceptive, mothers should be paid to keep their babies. Due to his late registration, Kanye has had trouble getting on the ballots in many key battleground states such as Florida and Michigan. The day after his rally, it was reported that Kanye had missed the deadline to get on the South Carolina ballot, even though the rapper had time to submit his paperwork. In states such as Illinois, Montana, Ohio and West Virginia, Kanye failed to turn in enough signatures required to be on the ballot. In Wisconsin, Kanye turned in his registration a mere 14 seconds after the 5 p.m. deadline. The registration was denied, and when he sued in response, a judge ruled that a deadline is a deadline, and Kanye was ineligible for appearing on a ballot. Kanye successfully got on the ballot in at least 11 states, including the battleground states of Colorado, Minnesota, and more recently, Kentucky. However, it’s currently mathematically impossible for Kanye to win. Even if he wins the states he is on the ballot in, the electoral votes given to him are nowhere near the required 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency. Kanye will be on the California voting ballot but not as a presidential candidate. The American Independent Party listed Kanye as a running mate to independent presidential candidate Roque “Rocky” De La Fuente, and neither had much of a say in it. Kanye still encourages California voters to write him in, tweeting a picture of him signing his name at the bottom of a California ballot. The AIP picked Kanye due to his political views and his abundant celebrity connections.
