Kanye Candidacy a Con Job? Evidence Emerges of GOP Support for Fringe Candidate

2020 is certainly not an ordinary year in world history, and so it stands to reckon that the US presidential election taking place in November will be far from normal as well.

We are already dealing with a strange set of circumstances regarding the coronavirus pandemic, in which campaign rallies have all but disappeared, and there is still a very real threat that mail-in voting will be the most utilized form of balloting throughout much of the nation.

And then there are the candidates themselves:  The bombastic incumbent Donald Trump, the bumbling Joe Biden, and hip hop superstar Kanye West who will appear on at least some of the ballots throughout the nation.

West is an eclectic and eccentric pop culture figure, so the idea of running for President isn’t too far out of the norm for him, but there is growing evidence that his presence in the race may not be a simple matter of his own arrogance, but rather a ploy to snatch votes away from Joe Biden. 

A late-night tweet from Kanye West this week strengthened the impression that establishment Republicans are helping the musician and fashion designer in his quest to get on the ballot in some states as a third-party candidate for president.

“I’m willing to do a live interview with the New York Time[s] about my meeting with Jared where we discussed Dr. Claude Anderson’s book Powernomics,” the post reads.

“Jared” is Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and White House adviser.

The New York Times reported that Kushner and West met privately last weekend in Colorado. Neither the White House nor West’s camp responded to NPR’s requests for comment.

The insinuation is that West’s presence on the ballot would pull votes from African American voters who largely vote Democrat.

While this sort of vote siphoning is expected in modern political elections, what is surprising is just how blatant West is being about it.