Kanye West’s recent announcement that he is breaking with Trump and running for President in 2020 seems both odd and oddly timed www.forbes.com/.... when I read the story, I seriously thought Forbes was being punked during their interview with West and that this was a fake news prank. I suppose this could be a publicity stunt but I think this is actually something else — something dangerous. Yes, West may have real political ambitions (honestly if a second rate reality show actor like Trump can be elected president — what celebrity thinks they couldn’t) but why announce now?
West has already missed the filing deadline in several states
- North Carolina, which required candidates to register by March 3.
- Texas, which required candidates to register by May 11.
- New Mexico, which required candidates to register by June 25.
- Indiana, which required candidates to register by June 30.
While ten others — Colorado, Florida, Michigan, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, West Virginia, Maine, and New York all require registration by July.
It is unclear what sort of campaign organization or platform West has. The Forbes interview included a fuzzy ideological muddle of Republican leaning pro religious anti-abortion anti-vaccine pro-Wakanda sentiments. Whatever message West settles on, even if it lack substance or coherence, it is sure to be delivered with style and flair. He’ll get some attention and that can only hurt Biden and help Trump.
West says he is ‘in it to win it’ but he could not realistically win an electoral college victory and he is unlikely to get a single elector. However, West could perhaps co-opt this moment in history and garner enough votes from young and black voters to allow his friend Donald J. Trump to win reelection by dividing the opposition electorate. www.history.com/… en.wikipedia.org/...
That is exactly what the candidacy of Jill Stein and Gary Johnson did in the last election, where they siphoned enough votes to prevent a Hillary Clinton win and it is what Ralph Nader’s Green Party candidacy did to prevent Al Gore from being elected in 2000 en.wikipedia.org/.... On the other side, lets not forget the third party candidacy of Ross Perot, who didn’t win a single electoral vote in 1992, but won 18.9% of the vote and in the process divided the Republican electorate allowing Bill Clinton to be elected. I don’t think that was Perot’s intention, but it provided a lesson for those who put forward candidates like Nader and Stein.
Trump knows he can’t reverse course and hide or moderate his racism in an effort to win votes of black or young voters without alienating his base and limiting their turnout, but it is possible that he could prevent Biden from securing enough minority and young voters to be elected. Recent polling suggest that young voters are not excited by Biden www.usatoday.com/.... This Kanye West third party (seriously, the Birthday Party!) run for the presidency looks like yet another way that Donald J. Trump plans to distract cheat and win — and it is frightening, since polling now suggests that Biden is so far ahead that splitting the electorate is Trump’s only viable path to reelection.
Stopping a third party vote split may be more difficult than it appears. The effort should start with exposing Kanye West’s candidacy for what it is, a crass, craven, soul eating, gold plated gift wrapped present to Donald J. Trump. Americans should not allow West to distract or sway a single voter while Trump picks our pockets. Yet attempts to expose West or question his motives will likely lead to internal conflicts that fracture the unity and spirit of the electorate and suppress voter enthusiasm and limit turn out. Which is another part of the Trump reelection strategy.
What kind of human being does that — runs as a stooge providing interference for a monster like Trump — and what in the world do they get in return? We might also ask why Tesla CEO Elon Musk would support a spoiler run by West?
How would West and Musk profit from Trump’s re-election (or suffer in a Biden presidency)?