CODY, Wyo. – During an interview with Forbes, Kanye West elaborated on his decision to run for president of the United States and made several more head scratching comments.
Over the course of four “rambling” hours of interviews, the magazine says the rapper confirmed that he was serious when he tweeted Saturday that he would pursue the White House.
West disclosed that he would be running under a new political party, the “Birthday Party.” He reportedly said, “because when we win, it’s everybody’s birthday.” He said his campaign slogan is “YES!” and he’s already chosen his running mate – an obscure Wyoming preacher named Michelle Tidball.
In the past, West has voiced his support of President Donald Trump, who has been seeking reelection since he took office in 2017. However, West told Forbes that he no longer supports Trump and that he was “taking the red hat off” with the interview.
With West apparently entering the presidential race, many Democrats are concerned he could spoil former Vice President Joe Biden’s prospects of winning. West is OK with that and isn’t shy about it, calling Biden “not special,” like him, former President Barack Obama and Trump.
West went on to say that it’s “a form of racism and white supremacy and white control to say that all Black people need to be Democrat and to assume that me running is me splitting the vote.”
Another revelation – West told the magazine that he was sick with COVID-19 in February. He described having chills, shaking in bed and looking up videos to see what he was supposed to do to get over it.
Also regarding COVID-19, West said he’s “extremely cautious” about the potential coronavirus vaccine and he went as far as calling it “the mark of the beast.”
“They want to put chips inside of us, they want to do all kinds of things, to make it where we can’t cross the gates of heaven,” West told Forbes. “I'm sorry when I say they, the humans that have the Devil inside them. And the sad thing is that, the saddest thing is that we all won’t make it to heaven, that there’ll be some of us that do not make it. Next question.”
West also discusses Planned Parenthood and said he believes the clinics “have been placed inside cities by white supremacists to do the Devil’s work.”
West initially said he would be running for president in 2024, but has decided to make his move early. Entering the 2020 race this late will prove to be challenging though, especially because he has no campaign apparatus and has already missed the filing deadline for several states, like Indiana, New York and Texas. It’s unclear if he’s planned to have his name appear on ballots or campaign for write-in votes.