Kanye West President Speech Prompts 'Ready for Kanye' Campaign
Donald Trump may have opened the door for another loud, egotistical and outspoken celebrity to make a bid for the White House -- Kanye West.
At Sunday night's MTV Video Music Awards, the "I Am A God" rapper announced that he's planning to run for president in 2020.
"I don't know what I finna lose after this. It don't matter, though; It's not about me. It's about ideas. New ideas. People with ideas. People who believe in truth," the hip-hop superstar said during his acceptance speech. "And yes, as you probably could've guessed by this moment, I have decided in 2020 to run for president."
Although it's unclear how serious he is about actually running for president, a GOP operative in Maryland filed paperwork to open a campaign committee in support of his potential 2020 bid just one day after he made the announcement, reports The Hill.
According to Eugene Craig III, the founder of the "Ready for Kanye" political action committee, West's policy on the war on drugs and education would be well received in the race.
"He would bring an interesting dialogue to the political debate," Craig told CNBC. "His stances on some of the pressing issues of the day would be welcome."
Craig added that it would be easy for West to become a Republican, although he's a noted Democrat. In 2014, West donated $15,000 to the Democratic National Committee and $1,000 to President Obama's reelection campaign. West also recently attended a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton with his reality star wife, Kim Kardashian. Plus, he's noted for publicly criticizing former Republican President George W. Bush when he said, "George W. Bush doesn't care about black people," during a televised Hurricane Katrina telethon in 2005.
"Given some of his ideological views, I do think he would fall in line with the Republican Party," Craig said. "If we are a party that can accept Donald Trump, we can accept Kanye West."
At one time it might have seemed far-fetched for a rapper to run for the highest political office. However, Trump's candidacy and success in the Republican primary proves that Americans are tired for the political establishment and are open to new ideas.
West may also stand a good chance to succeed in the race since he has many qualities that are similar to Trump. For instance, he is not a career politician -- his $130 million net worth places him in the top 1 percent of wealthy Americans, and he's a not a fan of being politically correct.
Subscribe to Latin Post!
Sign up for our free newsletter for the Latest coverage!
* This is a contributed article and this content does not necessarily represent the views of latinpost.com