Kanye is okay with diverting Black votes from Biden to help Trump, asks both leaders to 'gracefully bow out'
Kanye West, who announced his 2020 presidential candidacy over the weekend, is reportedly aware of claims that his presidential run may siphon off Black votes from the presumptive Democratic nominee, Joe Biden, and he is okay with that, according to Forbes. The rapper, in an interview with the magazine, said: "I’m not denying it, I just told you. To say that the Black vote is Democratic is a form of racism and white supremacy." West also acknowledged that he registered to vote for the first time on Monday, July 6.
The rapper had taken to Twitter on the Fourth of July to write: "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." Shortly after his announcement, critics had speculated that West — considering his late registration —may be running to split votes between the Republican Party nominee, Donald Trump, and his political rival Biden. The rapper's interview with the magazine, however, suggested that he is strongly anti-Biden and affiliated himself with the Republican party.
While talking about Democrats, West said: "That is a form of racism and white supremacy and white control to say that all Black people need to be Democrat and to assume that me running is me splitting the vote. All of that information is being charged up on social media platforms by Democrats. And Democrats used to tell me, the same Democrats have threatened me…. 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," the rapper added. "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. Threatening them to the point where this white man can tell a Black man if you don’t vote for me, you’re not Black."
West also said that he "would have run as a Republican candidate if not for Trump", and now would have to resort to running as an independent. He also suggested that if he does not win the presidency this year, he will try for 2024. "Let’s see if the appointing is at 2020 or if it’s 2024—because God appoints the president. If I win in 2020 then it was God’s appointment. If I win in 2024 then that was God’s appointment.”
The rapper also advised both Trump and Biden to "gracefully" bow out of the current presidential race. "A lot of times just like political parties they feel all Blacks have to be Democrat. This man, Joe Biden, said if you don’t vote for me, then you are not Black. Well, act like we didn’t hear that? We act like we didn’t hear that man say that? That man said that," he told the outlet in a telephonic interview. "It’s a rap. We gonna walk, all the people. Jay-Z said it best. For the other candidates, I just gracefully suggest y’all bow out—Trump and Biden, gracefully bow out. It’s God’s country, we are doing everything in service to God, nobody but God no more. I am in service of our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ, and I put everything I get on the line to serve God.”
West, a staunch Trump supporter, also appeared to be disillusioned by Trump, insisting that he has lost confidence in the president. "It looks like one big mess to me,” he says. “I don’t like that I caught wind that he hid in the bunker.”