Earlier this month, while many celebrated the Fourth of July, Kanye West was tweeting. He announced something shocking: a bid for the presidency.
“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,” West tweeted.
I couldn’t believe the news stories which popped up on my phone that day. But then it made sense. In 2016, Donald Trump, not a politician at the time, ran for the presidency and won.
Having a celebrity as president hasn’t been a great attribute for our country. He didn’t have experience leading a country as large and diverse as the U.S. and it’s shown. Trump’s popularity in office has steadily declined since he was first elected. His handling of COVID-19 has been an especially sore point. Very little was done on a national scale and Trump only recently began wearing a face mask in public.
But could it happen again in the upcoming election cycle, this time, with Kanye?
Prospective presidential candidates have been dropping from the line-up like flies. It seems the only two candidates with a shot at the upcoming election are Joe Biden and Trump. Could West make his way to a front-runner?
So far, his chances are quite low. After all, he’s only made the ballot in Oklahoma. If West was serious about running, he wouldn’t be able to afford only winning one state with the election just a few months away. It seems as though his plea for the presidency is going down the drain.
On July 21, he said he might run later instead.
“#2020VISION or maybe ‘24. I guess all black people supposed to vote on Biden? Y’all want me to run on nah???” West tweeted.
His announcement got me thinking. Maybe this is all just a publicity stunt. He could’ve done this to gain fans and draw more attention to his rapping career. He doesn’t seem to be taking the presidential bid seriously. Although, back in 2016, I thought the same of Trump. But here we are.
West wanting to run for presidency is makes the job seem like a joke. Right now, we need a strong, politically experienced president. This president should have a diverse background and be able to take care of a country in crisis.
The person best fit to be president is not a celebrity. We’ve tried that for the past four years and it’s encouraged nothing but bigotry and hate towards the diverse people who make up the U.S.
We need someone to take action and lift the American people up during this trying time.
That person is not West.
I’m nervous for the 2020 presidential race. Not necessarily for the outcome, but to see if the American people do what’s right.
Lindsay Trombly can be reached at arg-opinion@uidaho.edu or on Twitter @lindsay_trombly