Rapper Kanye West, who once said that slavery for many centuries may have been a matter of 'choice,' in an Independence Day tweet, announced that he is running for the president of the United States.
One person who will be sore with West for throwing his hat in the ring is Donald Trump who was counting on the former as a prominent black supporter who could help wean away the well-entrenched African-American voter.
West famously visited the Oval Office in October 2018, sporting a red "Make America Great Again" hat and saying, "I love this guy right here," while posing with Trump. His wife and reality TV star Kim Kardashian also visited the White House as an activist pushing for criminal justice reform.
West even wrote, “You don’t have to agree with Trump but the mob can’t make me not love him. We are both dragon energy. He is my brother. I love everyone. I don’t agree with everything anyone does. That’s what makes us individuals. And we have the right to independent thought”.
The most controversial of Wayne’s statements was about slavery when he declared: “Of course, I know that slaves did not get shackled and put on a boat by free will. My point is for us to have stayed in that position even though the numbers were on our side means that we were mentally enslaved.”
If West is to launch a serious bid, it would have come late in the day, as the Republican and Democratic National Conventions, where each party will formally announce its respective candidates, are set for next month.
It is unclear whether any official paperwork for an election bid has been filed on behalf of West.
The rapper has neither identified himself as a Democrat or a Republican, adding that he was “not political”.
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