Kanye West presidential campaigns

Kanye West announced his 2020 United States presidential election campaign through Twitter on July 4, 2020. On July 16, 2020, the campaign filed a Statement of Candidacy with the Federal Election Commission. He entered the election after missing at least six states' deadlines to appear on the ballot as a third-party candidate. West selected Michelle Tidball, a Christian preacher from Wyoming, as his running mate. West's platform advocated for the creation of a culture of life, endorsing environmental stewardship, supporting the arts, buttressing faith-based organizations, restoring school prayer, and providing for a strong national defense. A supporter of a consistent life ethic (a tenet of Christian democracy), West opposed abortion and capital punishment. The campaign was endorsed by his then-wife, Kim Kardashian (who ultimately switched her endorsement to Joe Biden), as well as a number of fellow rappers and entertainers. West qualified for ballot access in 12 states. The campaign sued for ballot access in five additional states (Arizona, Ohio, Wisconsin, Virginia and West Virginia), and subsequently lost all appeals, gave up on four other states (Illinois, Montana, Missouri, and New Jersey), and missed the deadlines of a further 29 states, plus the District of Columbia. West also appeared on the California ballot, as Rocky De La Fuente's running mate under the American Independent Party, a decision to which neither West nor De La Fuente had consented. Despite this, West urged his followers on Twitter to vote for him as a write-in candidate instead. West conceded his campaign on November 4, 2020, the morning after Election Day, after receiving roughly 70,000 votes in the 12 states where he had ballot access. In these states, West ranked 4th (5th in Colorado, Minnesota and Vermont) in terms of statewide vote count, and received the 7th highest national vote count for a presidential candidate. West expressed interest in running again in 2024 on the same day. His 2024 presidential election run was announced in November 2022, when West confirmed the launch of his campaign while answering paparazzi questions; he failed to substantiate with a party affiliation, although his voter registration is Republican. Within the following weeks, he appeared on interviews and podcasts with political figures including Alex Jones, Tim Pool, and Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes, often accompanied by far-right white supremacist Nick Fuentes. Many statements made by West became widely regarded as antisemitic, leading him to be widely condemned and censured by the mass media—to a degree unprecedented in his career. Furthermore, many brands and entities affiliated with West subsequently dissociated with his involvement or likeness. In March 2023, West retracted the statements he made about the Jewish community after claiming to have seen Jonah Hill's performance in the film 21 Jump Street, and the following December, he further apologized in a more formal manner. Throughout 2023, the campaign had been largely stagnant, and in October, a lawyer for West declared on his behalf that he is not actively a candidate.