Kanye West announces he’s running for president in 2020

The rapper is making good on a promise he made five years ago

(Karwai Tang/Getty Images)

SAN ANTONIO – Kanye West announced his intention to run for President of the United States in 2020 in a tweet Saturday evening.

“We must now realize the promise of America by trusting God, unifying our vision and building our future. I am running for president of the United States,” West’s said in a Twitter post. West ended the post with the hashtag #2020VISION.

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Elon Musk, the founder of SpaceX and Tesla Motors, later followed up the rapper’s tweet, announcing his full support behind West’s presidential run.

“You have my full support,” Musk responded in a corresponding Twitter post.

West first entertained a presidential run at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards. Since his original announcement, West has been seen wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat with the Trump family and numerous conservative pundits.

In the speech, West snapped at both the music industry and society at-large, saying he still did not understand award shows. At the end of his speech, he announced he was planning to run for president.

“And yes, as you probably could have guessed by this moment, I have decided, in 2020, to run for president,” West said at the tail end of the speech.

In West’s 2016 album, “The Life of Pablo,” he also reiterated his plans to run for the presidency.

“2020, I’mma run the whole election,” West rapped on the song Facts. By West’s latest post, it seems his intentions are clear as he announced YZY SHLTRS, playing off of his designer clothing brand, his 2020VISION platform, which apparently includes a form of shelter or housing for people.

In an interview with GQ, the rapper unveiled 4,500 acres of farmland that sits in the city of Cody, Wyoming, where he said he planned to set up a facility that is a one-stop-shop for all things YEEZY. Along with his clothing brand, West said the space would be used for people to explore creative freedom.

Related: Gap to partner with Kanye West


About the Author:

Jakob Rodriguez is a digital journalist at KSAT 12. He's a graduate of Texas State University, where he served as the editor-in-chief of the student-run newspaper, The University Star.