Kanye West to run for president under 'Birthday Party' banner backed by Elon Musk, says he's 'doing it to win'
Kanye West has pulled back from his support for President Donald J. Trump and announced his entry into the 2020 presidential race, saying "he's in it to win it." In a wide-ranging interview Forbes magazine published on Wednesday, the megastar rapper said he was "very serious" about running for the highest office in the country.
“I am taking the red hat off, with this interview,” West told Forbes, referring to the Trump campaign's trademark red “Make America Great Again” hat. “Like anything I’ve ever done in my life, I’m doing (this) to win,” he added.
The 'Famous' rapper added some more interesting details – for one, he will be running under a new banner called the 'Birthday Party'. Secondly, he has already been endorsed by his fashion mogul wife Kim Kardashian and SpaceX founder Elon Musk. “We’ve been talking about this for years," Kanye told Forbes magazine's Randall Lane. “I proposed to him to be the head of our space program," he added.
For those of us who are still in doubt, Kanye is supposedly very serious about his presidential bid. "An hour into the interview, the hedging was done: He says he definitely plans to run in 2020, versus his original plan in 2024," Lane wrote. "The campaign slogan: 'YES!' His running mate? Michelle Tidball, an obscure preacher from Wyoming. And why the "Birthday Party"? 'Because when we win, it’s everybody’s birthday'."
West also responded to speculation that his aim was to split the Black vote and hurt the chances of Democratic presumptive nominee Joe Biden. Denying the rumors, he said it was “a form of racism and white supremacy” to assume all Black people vote Democrat.
Nonetheless, he did not shy away from criticizing Biden. “I’m not saying Trump’s in my way, he may be a part of my way. And Joe Biden? Like, come on man, please. You know? Obama’s special. Trump’s special. We say Kanye West is special. America needs special people that lead. Bill Clinton? Special. Joe Biden’s not special." he said.
West also recalled Biden's controversial interview with Charlamagne Tha God. “A lot of times just like political parties they feel all Blacks have to be Democrat," he said. "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."
The rapper also revealed he was diagnosed with COVID-19 in February and that he would be "cautious" of any vaccines developed to guard against the disease.
“It’s so many of our children that are being vaccinated and paralyzed… So when they say the way we’re going to fix COVID is with a vaccine, I’m extremely cautious. That’s the mark of the beast," he said. "They want to put chips inside of us, they want to do all kinds of things, to make it where we can’t cross the gates of heaven. I'm sorry when I say they, the humans that have the Devil inside them. And the sad thing is that, the saddest thing is that we all won’t make it to heaven, that there’ll be some of us that do not make it."
Finally, West also expanded on his campaign slogan and plans for the near future. "The other thing is, my campaign is Kanye West YES, not YEP, not YEAH. YES. YES. YES," he said. "When I’m president, let’s also have some fun. Let’s get past all the racism conversation, let’s empower people with 40 acres and a mule, let’s give some land, that’s the plan.”