On 4th July, Kanye West surprised a lot of people after he announced that he would be running in the next US presidential election in November. He tweeted:
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‘We must now realise the promise of America by trusting God, unifying our vision and building our future. I am running for president of the United States! #2020VISION.’ On Sunday 19th July, the American rapper held his first presidential campaign in North Charleston, South Carolina. The meeting was reserved for accredited guests who had to sign a liability waiver as a result of COVID-19, wear masks and keep a safe distance from each other.
‘I almost killed my daughter’
Kanye West burst into tears as he delivered an anti-abortion speech. Wearing a bulletproof vest that read ‘security' on it, the presidential candidate said that at the time, he wanted his wife Kim Kardashian to have an abortion when she was pregnant with their first child. However, the American rapper did end up changing his mind:
So even if my wife were to divorce me after this speech, she brought North into the world, even when I didn’t want to. I almost killed my daughter!
Kanye West also spoke about his own father:
My mum saved my life. My dad wanted to abort me. My mum saved my life. There would have been no Kanye West because my dad was too busy.
Worries about his mental health
Parts of his speech sparked serious concern among his fans about the state of the singer’s mental health. At another point in his speech, Kanye West also brought up abolitionist Harriet Tubman.
‘[She] didn’t free the slaves, she just had them go work for other white people.’ Kanye West, unfortunately, passed the deadline to appear on the official ballot in several states, but he did qualify to appear on the ballot in Oklahoma. His candidacy could overshadow that of the Democratic candidate, Joe Biden, especially in states where Donald Trump only narrowly won in 2016, and where polls put him behind the ex-president.
