Kanye 2020 is a campaign that could only exist in our timeline. To me, it’s absolutely inconceivable that singer-songwriter Kanye West could hold any political position, much less President of the United States. West announced his presidential campaign in a tweet that read “We must now realize the promise of America by trusting God, unifying our vision and building our future. I am running for president of the United States! #2020VISION”.  Unsurprisingly, West missed the deadline to be on the ballot in most states. According to Steve Kramer, a member of West’s campaign team, Kanye was dropping out. Despite this, West will appear on the ballot in Oklahoma, Kentucky, Arkansas, Louisiana, Utah, Idaho, Iowa, Tennessee, Vermont, Mississippi, Colorado, and Minnesota. 

In an interview with Forbes, West revealed some of his policies, and boy are they vague. When asked about foreign policy West replied “I haven’t developed it yet. I’m focused on protecting America, first, with our great military. Let’s focus on ourselves first.” West also said he was going to use the fictional country of Wakanda as a framework for his government. Overall, his policies are incredibly out of touch. West’s go-to answer seems to be some quip about reinstating God in our country. 

In terms of what Kanye 2020 will do for the election, it’s going to be bad for Biden. I get it, the options are bad. I think West’s strategy is distracting liberals and centrists  into writing his name in as a joke. I know what you’re thinking, “No one is that stupid.” Don’t put it past the American population. A significant number of people cast a write in vote for Harambe (a dead gorilla by the way) in 2016. I don’t think that this is going to be significant enough to swing the election in Trump’s favor. In the right dominated political scene, we need Biden to have every single possible vote. Kanye is an interrupter. 

Despite Trump’s denial of involvement with Kanye, it’s likely some republican strings have been pulled to get Kanye where he is. White House advisor Jared Kushner had a “friendly discussion” with West in Colorado. When confronted about being a spoiler by Forbes, West indicated to trying to siphon votes from Democratic candidate Joe Biden. Questions about who was backing the West campaign were ignored. This in conjunction with Kanye’s history with Trump implies maybe the Trump campaign could be pushing Kanye along. I think that a plan like that would be too incompetent, even for Trump. I think Trump simply capitalized on West’s delusions of presidency by pulling a couple strings. In my opinion, Kanye West is just a mentality ill man with a big platform. West has opened up publicly about his diagnosis with Bipolar Disorder in the past. People close to West have talked about West’s struggles and how incredibly unpredictable his behavior is.  Kanye West needs real help.  In the grand scheme of things, West’s campaign is insignificant.
There is absolutely no chance he wins and I think it’s pretty unlikely that he changes the outcome of the election. To me, it’s just frustrating seeing Kanye play around with politics when so many people’s lives ride on our next election. West probably didn’t intend his campaign as a joke, but it is. Let’s just leave the joke there and not vote for him.