ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — In the latest event in the year 2020, Kanye West announced a run for president.
The Grammy-winning West signed off his Fourth of July announcement on Twitter with the hashtag, "#2020VISION."
"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"
But
West is no stranger to politics and, at times, controversy. During NBCUniversal's "A Concert For Hurricane Relief" after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, he went off-script -- much to the shock of fellow cohost Mike Myers -- to say, "George Bush doesn't care about black people."
In 2013, Vox noted West wore a coat with a Confederate battle flag patch on its sleeve while on a promotional tour for his sixth album, "Yeezus."
"React how you want," he told a Los Angeles radio station, according to People. "Any energy is good energy. You know the Confederate flag represented slavery in a way -- that's my abstract take on what I know about it. So I made the song 'New Slaves.' So I took the Confederate flag and made it my flag. It's my flag. Now, what are you going to do?"
While in recent years West offered support to current Republican President Donald Trump, he and his wife, Kim Kardashian West, posed for a selfie with Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton a year before she became the party's nominee.
But it was after the election West told concertgoers his true preference, "... if I would've voted, I would've voted for Trump."
As Vox explains, West visits with Trump and the embrace of his presidency isn't because of policy but more so of his support of Trump's thoughts and his approach to governing.
"When West faced criticism for his support, he countered that he was 'refusing to be enslaved by monolithic thought,' arguing that critics were angry that he had broken with the beliefs of other African Americans and that black people were too focused on racism."
It appears -- from a single tweet alone -- West might want to try out his own approach to politics. And perhaps there's a running mate in the mix? Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk responded, "You have my full support!"
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