Whatever Happened To Kanye West's Political Career?

Kanye West has had several stops and starts over his political career which has included a couple unsuccessful bids at becoming president. In September 2015, while accepting the Vanguard Award at the MTV Video Music Awards, West announced he would be running for president. "And yes, as you probably could have guessed by this moment, I have decided, in 2020, to run for president," he told the crowd at the time via Billboard. Perhaps fans thought the "Yeezus" artist was just caught up in the moment, but later that month, he elaborated on his intentions should he become POTUS. "The whole point is to have someone [in office] that's creative, that's around amazing creatives," West told Vanity Fair at the time while making it clear he had no intentions of quitting his artistic endeavors if he won the election.

Leading up to the 2020 presidential election, the "Runaway" rapper spent some time in the political sphere. In October 2018, West had a meeting with then-president Donald Trump at the White House while the rapper infamously wore a MAGA hat. "It was something about when I put this hat on, it made me feel like Superman," West told Trump, per the BBC.

Later that month, West had a change of heart. "I am distancing myself from politics and completely focusing on being creative!!!" West wrote on X, formerly Twitter, in one of his trademark tweetstorms (via Variety). Yeezy also listed several of the political ideals he supported such as "prison reform." Of course, West's political career was only put on hold. He would attempt to run for president just two years later.

A couple years after pausing his political aspirations, Kanye West once again announced his intentions to run for president in the 2020 election. However, that move involved distancing himself from Donald Trump and the MAGA slogan. "I am taking the red hat off, with this interview," he told Forbes during an interview in July 2020. What made the announcement so surprising was that it came so close to the election, but West was serious about his intentions. "Like anything I've ever done in my life. I'm doing [it] to win," the "Flashing Lights" artist added. West also took a jab at the then-Democratic nominee, Joe Biden. "You know? Obama's special. Trump's special ... Joe Biden's not special," he said.

West told Forbes that he had been conferring with Elon Musk about the presidential bid. Days before that interview, West tweeted that he would be running for president, and Musk showed his approval. "You have my full support!" Musk responded.

Joining the election race late, and not putting much effort into the campaign trail, led to a lackluster performance at the voting polls. Eventually, West dropped out of the presidential race and conceded in November 2020. "WELP KANYE 2024," he tweeted at the time, per Reuters. West only appeared on the ballot in only 12 states and received a meager 70,000 votes in his failed presidential bid, but he was undeterred by the underwhelming showing. A couple years later, West took yet another stab at becoming president.

In preparation for his bid in the 2024 presidential election, Kanye West attempted to recruit Donald Trump. West revealed that he visited Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago to ask him to be his running mate, but the former POTUS was insulted by the offer. "The thing that Trump was most perturbed about [is] me asking him to be my vice-president," West said in a video posted to X in November 2022 (via The Guardian). According to the "Gold Digger" rapper, Trump made his feelings clear. "Trump started basically screaming at me at the table, telling me I'm going to lose. Has that ever worked for anyone in history?" West said in the video.

That bid for presidency was even more ill-fated than West's attempt in 2020. A year after posting that video about his upcoming campaign, West had officially removed himself from consideration. "He's not a candidate for office in 2024," the musician's lawyer, Bruce Marks, told Billboard in October 2023. According to a source, West's presidential hopes had never truly materialized. "[T]here's no campaign structure or anything along those lines in place," they told the outlet.

Even though his own political career was on the back burner, West did make it clear who he endorsed for the 2024 election. In February 2024, the paparazzi asked the rapper who he intended to vote for. "Yeah of course, it's Trump all day," West responded via X. "What you talking 'bout? You know what it is."