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In confusing media news, perhaps spurred by Donald Trump’s reasonably successful bid for the presidency, Kanye West announced at Sunday’s VMA awards that he plans to run for president in the 2020 elections.
West made the announcement as he accepted the Video Vanguard Award. Eyes closed and words clearly heartfelt, fans around him applauded uproariously. It’s unclear how serious West is about the bid that wouldn’t come to fruition for another five years, or how much he’s thought about the long road ahead of him, but plenty of other celebrities have hardly been deterred.
“I don’t know what I finna lose after this. It don’t matter, though; it’s not about me. It’s about ideas. New ideas. People with ideas. People who believe in truth,” said West. “And, yes, as you probably could’ve guessed by this moment, I have decided in 2020 to run for president.” So there’s that.
The Democratic party doesn’t seem to mind the announcement terribly, tweeting a welcome message from their official account.
In addition to the major announcement, West’s 12-minute acceptance speech featured a number of other highlights. He thanked Taylor Swift, the award’s presenter, for being gracious, referring to that time he snubbed her for winning her own award six years ago. He also claimed that he still doesn’t understand awards shows, exclaimed that he would die for the arts, offered instruction for raising children, and also admitted to having “rolled up a little something to take the edge off.”
West announced his potential candidacy at the end of the speech. It remains to be seen, of course, whether he will make good on his announcement, but he has several years to begin putting a campaign together.
