Recently, Kanye West announced his campaign for President under the party that he's labeled the "Birthday Party." It was also recently reported that he had dropped out but he is actually just trying to get on the ballot and as of July 15th, he has succeeded in appearing on Oklahoma's Presidential ballot. West, an outspoken Trump supporter, already has the support of his wife, Elon Musk, and possibly a few hundred college students and teenagers who don't care about the actual future of America.
Kanye could be doing this for a number of reasons. Maybe he is trying to hurt Joe Biden by taking away his potential votes. Maybe he is trying to hurt Trump's campaign by taking away a number of black voters who would have voted for Trump otherwise. Or maybe this is just a publicity stunt and he is another Donald Trump who ran for the attention. It is likely that a Kanye campaign helps nobody except Trump.
But what is scary is that the declaration of this campaign kind of makes sense. Kanye has every right to run for President and our cheeto-in-chief is a prime example of how the American public will vote in anybody - even people who literally have no experience. Not only that, but the media also craves this kind of news. News stations will run his campaign. Why? Because he's a celebrity and he's sensational. This media attention will not only muddle the election but also detract from important COVID-19 coverage. At this point, the media is looking to cover anything except COVID because they know their audience is sick of it - a Kanye campaign is the perfect fodder for these news channels.
Since 2016, the Presidential election has been seen as a sort of game and the current audience is teenagers who had sat through the mess of 2016. The issue is that while many of these young people understand that this is a serious issue and we need a real official with real experience to take office, a lot of Gen Z don't care at all. I have already seen college students show their support for Kanye on social media, and whether or not it's a joke, that is dangerous. They will vote for Kanye not because they believe in him but because they just don't think it matters. There is therefore a real chance that Kanye will take away essential votes from Biden and this may lead to a Trump victory.
