Last week, actress Jennifer Anniston posted on her instagram urging her fans to vote, and said it is “not funny” to vote for Kanye West.
I found his response priceless as he clap-backed, “Friends wasn’t funny either.”
The hip-hop icon officially announced he was running for president on Independence Dar. Most of the country saw it as a joke but some actually expressed their support.
In September, the country was proven wrong when West’s name appeared on the ballot in Kentucky, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Utah, Idaho, Iowa, Tennessee and the “deeply blue state of Vermont,” according to ABC News.
West is encouraging his fans to write in his name as a third-party candidate.
Based on several of West’s publicity stunts in the past, some regard him as a genius. His tactics may not always be tasteful but he almost always makes a statement that you can not ignore.
With that being said, up until his announcement for presidency, West has shown steady support for President Trump. So why would he want to run against him? Is this all a scheme to help Trump stay in office?
In a Forbes interview, West very vaguely responded to this question.
In the interview, it was pointed out to him that he did not get on enough ballots to even reach the needed270 electoral college votes to win the presidency — which makes it look like he is only running to hurt Democratic nominee Joe Biden.
West’s response to this was, “I’m not going to argue with you. Jesus is King.”
That indeed was not an argument nor did it clear up any suspicions about the integrity of his presidential campaign.
Although West insists that his goal is to win.
Lane Ruhland, a lawyer with ties to the Wisconsin Republican Party and the Trump campaign, was recorded on video dropping off signatures for West with the Wisconsin Elections Commission, according to USA Today.
When asked about his participation with getting West on the ballot, Trump told Forbes reporters that he had nothing to do with it and we will have to just see what happens.
Florida A&M student body president, Xavier McClinton, said that the question is not whether or not West will win. The question is what could his running do to the numbers.
“It’s all a numbers game and each of the candidates are fighting for every little scrap that they can get to get that seat,” he said. “I think Kanye coming in —he’s not gonna win by any means — but what he may do is pull away from specifically the Biden campaign that may hurt them in the backhand.”
McClinton believes West will get less than one percent of the vote but nonetheless it is a mockery of something important.
“The presidential office isn’t something you can just willy nilly go into,” he said. “You need experience, you need understanding, you need leadership capability, you need mental stability — which I don’t think Kanye has right now. You need years of experience in something more than just the music industry. It’s not just something you can just roll into. I think a lot of people understand that but I also think that there’s a good number of folks who don’t and that’s what I’m worried about.”
The question of putting West on the ballot simply to draw from Biden’s vote remains. It may never be answered. But this is the perfect opportunity for young voters to showhow much power we hold.
I genuinely believe that our generation is smart enough to ignore West’s antics but if I truly have to say it: Your voice matters. Your vote matters. Vote responsibly.