(Note: This is a speculative work based on future events that could happen, but may not happen. Who knows?)
Kanye West proved to be one of the most unlikely people to ever take the Oval Office. Just like how the talented producer was considered unlikely to ever become a rapper himself, much less become such a huge hit. In fact, not even Kanye ever thought about running for President; he was focused on his music career and making it big in the rap world. But while he became a huge success, he also developed a notorious reputation for egotistical behavior and obnoxious comments. He also did bizarre things; one example was a night on August 30, 2015 when he won a VMA. During his speech, he announced that he wanted to run for President in 2020 rather emphatically. He was also rather high while giving the speech.
Kanye West was slightly embarrassed, and he would play it down whenever the media, his friends, and Kim brought it up. After all, Kanye West was a rapper, not a politician. But he started to take the idea rather seriously because of one person: Donald Trump.
Trump’s 2016 campaign proved to be a surprising success as he crushed his rivals to get the nomination. He also was notorious for his unorthodox, brutally honest style as well as his mudslinging and controversial statements. After accepting the nomination(amid much lethargy from the establishment), Trump proceeded to duke it out with Hillary Clinton in the general election. Trump suffered from his extreme rhetoric among Latinos and women, but he was hugely popular among white working-class voters in the South and parts of the Midwest. As the campaign continued and news of scandals and controversies concerning Hillary broke out, Hillary’s edge vanished and Trump began to tie the race with Hillary. The debates didn’t help Hillary either; Trump was harsh and ruthless while Hillary failed to counter appropriately. On election day, Trump narrowly won by carrying Colorado by a margin of 8000 votes, along with victories in Ohio, Iowa, Pennsylvania, and New Hampshire. Hillary won more popular votes than Trump, however.
While the Democrats lost the Presidency, they gained 20 seats in the House and gained 6 seats in the Senate. This gave them 51 seats in the Senate, and with Independent Maine Senator Angus King(who caucused with them), a 52 seat majority. These gains were attributed to reduced enthusiasm among the Republican base and frustration with the obstructionist GOP majority. This allowed the Democratic Party to hold some measure of power at the federal level, despite Trump’s victory.
Despite this, Trump’s victory led to massive chaos within the Democratic party. Progressives felt that if Bernie had been the nominee, Trump would have been defeated. The establishment had pushed hard for Hillary, and with her lackluster campaign and narrow defeat, had become thoroughly discredited. Many top Democrats, including Debbie Schultz and Nancy Pelosi, resigned or were forced out by the progressives, and a younger, more diverse, and liberal generation of people took over the party. Led by Representative Tim Canova(who had defeated Debbie Schultz in the House race primary for her district) the progressive faction of the Democratic party sought to continue the revolution that Bernie Sanders had ignited with his candidacy; their conservative and moderate critics derided them as a liberal version of the Tea Party.
In ferocity and dedication, the progressives matched their conservative counterparts; they protested Trump’s rise to power on the grounds of him having lost the popular vote to Hillary. With control of the Senate, they were able to obstruct most of Trump’s policies.
It also helped that Trump proved to be a hugely unpopular President. Trump’s first act upon taking office was to issue an executive order to deport most of the undocumented immigrants in the country, many of whom had been protected under Obama. The mass deportations proved to be chaotic and costly; many families were torn apart and many died upon resisting attempts at being arrested. A bill sponsored by President Trump to build a stronger border fence was blocked by the Democratic Senate; this move was widely supported by an American public shocked at the brutality of the deportations. The move also hurt the economy by getting rid of a major source of labor for many businesses. It became clear that President Trump simply didn’t know what he was doing.
President Trump also had to contend with a recession that started in March 2017; this recession was caused by a slowing Chinese economy, rising oil prices, and recession in Europe. The recession was further aggravated by tariffs passed on Chinese imports; China responded with tariffs on American goods and covertly supporting Chinese hackers, who wreaked havoc on many entities in the US. The resulting trade war crippled economies throughout the world; Trump also struck down NAFTA with an executive order; this led to another trade war with Mexico. The recession became serious relatively quickly and lasted until June 2018; unemployment was at 9.6% by then and hovered there for a couple of years.
Trump also sucked at foreign policy. Trump also made controversial agreements with Russia; he looked the other way while Russia invaded Ukraine to oust the pro-Western government over there. He also met with Kim Jong-Un in Pyongyang and signed a peace agreement, pledging millions of dollars in aid in exchange for nuclear disarmament. While the move led to North Korea being free of nukes, it angered many people, who felt that Trump was appeasing North Korea. It also baffled many others, who didn’t understand why he started a trade war with China but went easy on the much weaker North Korea. Trump also failed to eradicate ISIS; he imposed a ban on Muslims entering and exiting the US. While the Supreme Court struck down the ban, this alienated many Muslim countries, who stopped cooperating with the US. ISIS was empowered and launched a new wave of attacks, killing hundreds of people throughout the world.
Trump’s incompetence and massive unpopularity(22% in November 2018) proved incredibly devastating for the GOP, leading to a massive loss of their support. In the 2018 midterms, the Democrats won in a massive landslide, picking up 110 seats in the House and 9 seats in the Senate. In the aftermath of the massive defeat, Speaker Paul Ryan and other GOP leaders urged President Trump to resign, wanting to salvage the party in time for 2020. President Trump, who had grown tired of the Presidency due to a decline in his fortune and massive negative media attention, resigned in January 2019, giving the Oval Office to Mike Pence. The GOP sought to reverse the hemorrhaging of its support and work with the Democrats to stabilize the economy, giving them a chance at holding the Presidency in 2020.
Unfortunately this did not work out. President Pence, a staunch conservative and former Tea Party member, vetoed many Congressional initatives aimed at stimulating the economy; he did remove the tariffs Trump had imposed and signed new deals with China and Mexico. The economy continued to remained stagnant and unemployment remained above 9%; this led to massive unrest and misery for many families. Racial tensions were aggravated as well due to continuing police brutality and poverty. It was clear that America was falling apart, and that something new needed to happen.
Kanye sought his opportunity. After Trump’s victory, he realized that he too, with no political experience, could become President. He talked privately with Barack Obama, who recognized the seriousness of his intentions. While both men had had a rocky past(Obama called him a jackass in 2009), Obama recognized his potential and urged him to go for it. He also told him to clean up his image and make himself more agreeable and professional(no more ego trips and controversial statements). Kanye West was eager to do this; he apologized to Taylor Swift in January 2017 and mended fences with many figures in the music industry he had pissed off earlier. He also made a series of well-received, yet controversial political raps in 2017, criticizing President Trump for his extreme policies and bigotry. Kanye also convinced his wife to change her notorious image as well; she, eager to become First Lady, left her reality TV show and began a show focused at exploring the realities of growing up in inner city America. She also campaigned for various progressive and social justice causes(taking plenty of selfies ofc); people began to take her more seriously and she shed her image as a shallow, vain celebrity. Finally Kanye ran for a California House seat in 2018 and won in a landslide over his Republican opponent. He used this to gain experience in politics and position himself for a serious run in 2020.
Finally in 2019, Kanye announced his run for the Democratic nomination. He faced a wide field of hopefuls, who were all mostly younger and liberal like him. His primary opponent was Kamala Harris, Senator from California and former Attorney General of California. Both candidates were very popular and soon the primary season became a contest between both of them. Kamala Harris was widely seen as a more charismatic, scandal-ridden version of Clinton and Kanye West was seen as a black version of Bernie Sanders with his progressive views and grassroots base(emphasis on grass). The contest was very close, but Kanye won an outright majority with his sweep of the DC primary, the last contest of the season. He had energized the progressive base like Bernie had done, but also had much stronger support among black voters and young people than even Bernie did. The Republicans renominated Mike Pence, who had faced a tough primary challenge from John Kasich and Ted Cruz. Kasich and his supporters, who had grown frustrated with the party’s extreme right-wing views and stubbornness, left the party and launched a third party bid under the “American Party” label. Ted Cruz, alienated as usual by the establishment, launched another bid under the Constitution Party. This 3-way split fractured the GOP and virtually ensured a victory for Kanye, who kicked back and watched as the Republicans destroyed themselves. The debates were very enjoyable and fun to watch as Pence and Cruz ripped away at each other, with Kanye remaining calm and Kasich trying to calm the other two down. On election night, Kanye won in a virtual landslide; the Democrats picked up 40 more House seats and 12 more Senate seats. Kanye had won a strong mandate for office, and he was ready to make some necessary changes to get the country moving forward again.
