Kanye West says he no longer supports Trump days after announcing 2020 bid: 'I'm taking the red hat off'
When Kanye West announced on Independence Day that he was running for the presidency, many didn't how to react. Was this some kind of joke? Was it an attempt to steer attention away from Donald Trump, for whom he's repeatedly expressed admiration? Or, they feared, was it real? In a new tell-all interview with Forbes magazine, Kanye opened up about his announcement and insisted he was serious about running for the presidency and that his days supporting Trump were over. "I am taking the red hat off, with this interview," he proclaimed.
Kanye's Twitter feed has always been a peculiar one but one quite expected him to say he was gunning for the position of commander-in-chief, at least, not so soon. "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," he tweeted. After the initial shock at subsided, many questioned the tweet's legitimacy, not because it was Kanye being Kanye, but because the rapper had previously said he would not run for the Oval Office until 2024 out of respect for Trump.
Randall Lane, who spoke with Kanye for his interview, said it was only a few weeks back that the 'Stronger' hitmaker ended two separate text chains with the message "Trump 2020" and a fist raised high. But it appears a lot has changed in the days that have followed, with Kanye now insisting that he has lost all faith in the president. Asked why, he responded, "It looks like one big mess to me. I don’t like that I caught wind that he hid in the bunker."
He appears to have been referring to a report that claimed Trump took refuge in an underground White House bunker for his safety during intense demonstrations outside his Washington residence over the Memorial Day death of George Floyd.
Trump, of course, insisted otherwise and claimed he was in the bunker to inspect it. "I went down during the day and I was there for a tiny, little short period of time and it was much more for an inspection, there was no problem during the day," he said.
The recent loss of faith aside, Kanye still expressed reverence towards Trump, who he said is the "closest president we’ve had in years to allowing God to still be part of the conversation." He also said he would have run as a Republican had Trump not been on the ticket, but because that was not possible this year, he would be running as an independent.
Questioned about why he had suddenly decided to throw his hat in the ring this year, Kanye credited God. "God just gave me the clarity and said it’s time," he shared. "You know I was out there, ended up in the hospital, people were calling me crazy. 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 look up 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, we’re going Yeezy, it’s a whole ‘notha level now. N-O-T-H-A."