On July 4, 2020 (American Independence Day), rapper, record producer, and 43 year old billionaire Kanye West declared his candidacy for the 2020 presidential election on Twitter by stating, “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!”

Yes, you read that right.

Kanye West was a candidate for the presidency in this year’s election… sort of.

Kanye became an “official” candidate of the 2020 presidential election via Twitter, representing neither the Democratic Party nor the Republican Party, but instead the “Birthday Party,” or so he claims because, “when we win, it’s everybody’s birthday.” However, West was only on the presidential ballot in 12 different states, making it virtually impossible for him to become victorious. Unfortunately, (or should I say fortunately?) he was not on the ballot in New Jersey. In addition to his presidential candidacy, West was also listed as a Vice President nominee in several states, including California, under presidential candidate Roque “Rocky” De La Fuente, running for the Independent Party. Even West himself was surprised when he was notified that he was on the ballot as a Vice President candidate.

In such a crucial election, West still received about 60,000 votes across the dozen states he was eligible to be voted in. Although this number pales in comparison to the votes allocated to Biden and Trump, it still represents a fair number of people, given West’s little experience in politics or government. This support shouldn’t come as a shock though, as West has many loyal and dedicated fans, who went out of their way to leave a vote for the West campaign.

On Tuesday, November 3, when senior Will Sedgely posted a reminder to vote in the PDS mock election, freshman Mason Watson left a comment saying, “Where is Kanye?” This comment received 50+ likes, suggesting an appreciation for the West campaign. There was a lot of commotion about whether or not West was a valid candidate for president. Although Watson questioned the choice to omit West from the mock ballot, he mentioned, “I personally would not vote for a candidate without political experience. His parties’ organizers, while funded with almost $12 million, missed many deadlines and submissions to get on the national ballot. However, I still support old school Kanye’s music!” That being said, most thought of the West campaign as a joke and only really supported him because of his popularity in the rap industry. 

Sophomore Sanjna Moola also noted that, “I think that Kanye running for president was not a good idea. I think he just got into the fun of it, but he never should have seriously been considered a candidate, as he has no background in politics.” People mainly only agreed with the West campaign for comedic purposes, and most believed that he shouldn’t have been a candidate to begin with.

After days of votes rolling in, West finally realized that his chances of winning weren’t probable, and he accepted his defeat. However, the independent West campaign will not come to a halt, and on November 4, he tweeted, “KANYE 2024.” This bold closing still leaves hope for the West supporters across the country.