Kanye West Is Running For President, For Some Reason

Well. It's happening. Kanye West has strapped on his running shoes and is now gearing up to enter the race. On the disgraced holiday that is unfortunately acknowledged as "America's birthday," West took to Twitter to announce what appears to be his candidacy for the 2020 presidential race. "We must now realize the promise of America by trusting God, unifying our vision and building our future," the tweet began. "I am running for president of the United States!" He concluded with the hashtag #2020VISION.

For anyone who has been awake for the past half-decade, this should be quite the horrifying update. After all, it seems like only yesterday that another multi-millionaire "celebrity" with seemingly radical politics announced his own candidacy for president. At the time, that run also seemed like a joke. Fast-forward five years, and now, that same man is currently occupying the White House with plans to stay there for another four years.

Kanye's timing is quite interesting as well. Last week, West dropped the Travis Scott-assisted "Wash Us In the Blood," the lead single from his forthcoming tenth studio album, which...yes, he also announced last week. Add in the fact that his album is called [checks notes] God's Country, and it surely does smell a bit fishy.

Nevertheless, West does seem to moving forward with his plans. Even if he hasn't filed the necessary paperwork to continue with his presidential campaign, West has made no qualms in the past about his intentions to one day do so. At the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards, where West was presented with the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award from his one-time mortal enemy Taylor Swift, the rapper announced his plans to run for president in 2020. Now, he just seems to be fulfilling his promise — even if he is arriving a bit late to the game.

Some high-profile people have already stepped out of the woodwork to put their force behind the new presidential hopeful. Soon after his announcement, Grimes's baby's father Elon Musk stepped up to announce that Kanye had his vote. "You have my full support!" he said less than ten minutes after West's tweet went live, almost like he had the rapper's tweet notifications pushed directly to his special Tesla-powered iPhone. Later, 2 Chainz bemoaned the fact that he had already voted early, apparently because he would have written in his "Mercy" collaborator if he had known he had the choice. And, of course, West's wife, possible new billionaire Kim Kardashian West, showed her support with a quote tweet that prominently featured the American flag, clearly excited about her opportunity to be a future First Lady.

But luckily, not everyone is falling prey to this publicity stunt. Some were quick to remind people that, just two years ago, West told TMZ that slavery was a choice. Many others thought West's presidential run was just an elaborate ploy to split the Democratic vote between himself and current frontrunner Joe Biden, so as to guarantee an easy repeat victory for President Trump, who West has obviously supported in the past.

Ploy or not, I beg of you: Please don't take Kanye West seriously. One celebrity in the presidential race is already more than enough.