Rapper Kanye West in an interview with Forbes magazine broadcast on July 8 confirmed his decision to join the race for the White House.
Kanye West attended an art event in New York in May 2016.
West’s decision to run for election was made relatively late when there were only about 4 months left until the November 3 election and he still had many procedures to complete.
On July 7, an FEC spokesman said West apparently had not yet submitted the necessary documents to formalize his election activities.
`Candidates who have been elected president often enter the race much earlier than that,` an FEC spokesman said.
Independent candidates who start late like West often have unsatisfactory results.
On the other hand, West missed the deadline to file as an independent candidate in many states such as Alabama, Illinois, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina and Texas, according to information posted by the FEC
So if West chooses to run as an additional candidate (a candidate whose name is not on the ballot but voters can write in), he could break the rules regarding the process of putting names on the ballot.
No additional candidate has ever been elected president of the United States in history.
`If the race between Trump and Joe Biden (Democratic presidential candidate) is close, every factor is important,` said Nathan L Gonzales, an election analyst.
According to former Republican John Pudner, executive director of the nonprofit Take Back Our Republic (TBOR), he doesn’t see any problem with West running for president.
`The American people need more choices, not less. The more choices voters have, the lower the presidential candidate’s ability to reliably get votes from a certain group,` he said.
But Matt Klink, president of public relations and communications strategy consulting firm Klink Campaigns Inc., said he does not believe West is serious about his political goals and that the rapper is unlikely to pose a threat.
`West is not eligible to be on the ballot in most states. He also does not have a solid campaign platform, has no base of voters, has not expressed a clear position on any issue.
`If West was really serious, he should have started a long time ago,` said John Mark Hansen, a political science professor at the University of Chicago.
This is not the first time West has revealed his intention to run for president of the United States.
Besides, West has just released a new music album.
Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, predicted West could win less than one percent of the vote.
Meanwhile, David Smith, a lecturer on American politics at the University of Sydney, Australia, said that it is difficult to know whether West is really serious about running for president or not.
`He’s a pretty complicated guy,` he commented.
Although West’s chances of being elected are not considered high, according to analysts, his participation can completely affect the results of the US presidential election.
Even a small number of votes can determine the final result.
West is popular among young people of color, who tend to vote Democratic.
But the situation changed after West publicly praised President Trump in April 2018 and was invited by the President to the White House.
West rejected the idea that he was secretly helping Trump by dividing black voters and damaging the election chances of Democratic candidate Joe Biden, Trump’s opponent in this year’s presidential election.
`Right now, it’s difficult to say which side Kanye West will take away votes from,` Smith said.
Although he previously praised Trump, West yesterday expressed that he no longer supported the man he once admired.
