Kanye West for president? Key takeaways from his campaign video
On July 4, 2020, Kanye West officially announced his campaign for President of the United States. On Monday, Kanye released the first advertisement for his political campaign with only weeks left until the presidential election.
Kanye doesn’t exactly have the strongest chance of winning as he hasn’t appeared in any of the debates or polls and isn’t even an option on many of the ballots. Here is what you need to know about his latest campaign ad.
Religion & family
In Kanye’s campaign ad, he referred to God, faith, and prayer many times. Kanye has never shied away from preaching his religious beliefs and how they influence many of his ideologies. He even recently released a gospel album titled Jesus Is King.
In the campaign video, Kanye said, “We as a people will revive our nation’s commitment to faith, to what our constitution calls the free exercise of religion, including, of course, prayer. Through prayer, faith can be restored. By turning to faith, we will be the kind of nation, the kind of people God intends us to be.”
Religion & prayer are a large part of Kanye’s message in the ad as well as the strength of the family unit. Kanye touted families as the “building blocks of society, of a nation.”
Kanye placed an emphasis on prayer & family as he believes these are two elements that can make Americans prosper together. Kanye spoke in front of a black-and-white American flag as though he were addressing a crowd.
Write-in votes for Kanye
The ad ended with “write-in Kanye West” in big letters, urging voters to write him in. Write-in voting is a way for candidates to obtain votes without appearing on the ballot. Since Kanye does not appear on the ballot in many states, his main hope for becoming elected would be for a miraculous turnout of write-in voters supporting him.
There are only a handful of states where Kanye is going to appear on the ballot. These states include Colorado, Minnesota, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Utah, Idaho, Iowa, Tennessee, and Vermont. Citizens in the other thirty-eight states will only be able to vote for Kanye via write-in.
Kanye’s campaign
Many have questioned the validity of Kanye’s campaign since it was announced back in July. Kanye is running as a member of the “Birthday Party” and was previously seen as a die hard supporter of President Trump. Kanye made several public appearances in a “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) hat and even joined President Trump for a conversation in the Oval Office.
Some have claimed Kanye has no intention of winning the election and is only running in an attempt to siphon votes away from Democratic nominee Joe Biden. According to ABC News, Kanye has been “largely aided by Republican lawyers and operatives around the country, including lawyers with direct ties to the Trump administration.”
Kanye’s mental stability came into question during this campaign as well. Two weeks after announcing his campaign, Kanye held a campaign rally in North Charleston, SC. During the rally, Kanye appeared to have a mental breakdown as he cried about considering having one of his kids aborted and relationship issues with his wife, Kim Kardashian West.
Shortly after this, Kim went on her Instagram and asked for compassion for Kanye, suggesting that he was having a bipolar episode as Kanye suffers from bipolar disorder.
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Kanye’s campaign ad is a reminder he still considers himself to be in this presidential race. With the election coming very soon, it remains to be seen whether Kanye’s call for write-in votes will have any effect come Nov. 3rd.
