After much umming and ahhing as to whether Kanye West had dropped out of his last-minute presidential bid, the billionaire music has hosted his first rally.
On Sunday, July 19th, West took to Charleston, South Carolina to deliver an outlandish, rambling campaign debut. If you were hoping for some clarity as to whether West’s presidential bid is genuine, or just an elaborate way to promote his next creative endeavour — you’re shit outta luck.
The campaign saw West make a slew of bizarre claims, including a moment where he claimed slave liberator Harriet Tubman “never actually freed the slaves, she just had them work for other white people,” he said at one point in a rambling speech that bounded from one topic to another with little seeming structure.
“There would have been no Kanye West … because my dad was too busy!,” West cried.
The surprise rally was held at the Exquis Event Center in North Charleston and was open to “registered guests only.”
Kanye West at his “campaign rally” in South Carolina: “Harriet Tubman never actually freed the slaves, she just had them work for other white people.”
Loud groans from the audience, “come on man” can be heard pic.twitter.com/Q9g92UvZ27
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— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) July 19, 2020
West first announced his presidential bid on July 4th — despite missing the deadline to register as a write-in candidate in several states. “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’s campaign has incited a flood of conversation on social media regarding the musician’s mental health.
West has been outspoken about his bipolar diagnosis in the past. Notably, the cover art for his 2018 record Ye read, “I hate being Bi-Polar its awesome.” In album track ‘Yikes’, Yeezy refers to his diagnosis as a “superpower”.
During an interview with David Letterman for the Netflix show My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman, West delved further into his experience with bipolar. Detailing that he believes the condition enables him to better express his personality.
“What I want to say about the bipolar thing is because it has the word ‘bi’ in it, it has the idea of, like, split personality. Well, that works for me because I’m a Gemini, but when you ramp up, it expresses your personality more,” he said.
A TMZ report published earlier this month revealed that sources close to Kanye have suggested that he is in the midst of a bipolar episode.