With the introduction of the primaries for the 2016 election have come a few odd potential candidates. Donald Trump is currently campaigning seriously as a Republican candidate. Fifteen-year-old Brady Olson from Iowa, or Deez Nuts, submitted himself to the race as a third-party candidate, according to an article from TIME. Most recently, Kanye West declared at the MTV VMAs that he had decided to run for president in 2020.
I didn't watch more than a couple minutes of the VMAs. However, I heard about Kanye's declaration just a few minutes after he made it, via a text from a friend. He said a lot of things that actually sounded pretty insightful. In the transcript in on vox.com, West is quoted saying, presumably of his onstage sabotage of Taylor Swift in 2009, "If I had a daughter at that time, would I have went on stage and grabbed the mic from someone else's?" This quote shows some actual personal reflection. Many of the other things Kanye said do this as well. However, the speech is still a bit long-winded. Abad-Santos states, "West then rambles a bit — he talks about art, artists, and Justin Timberlake crying at the VMAs because he lost — then explains that he smoked some weed before the show." In a statement that is a complete twist, a statement that West clearly thought was obvious from his phrasing and the proud way he delivers it, he says, "And yes, as you probably could have guessed by this moment, I have decided, in 2020, to run for president."
While Donald Trump may be doing fairly well in polls, a majority of people are offended at his views and comments. Unsurprisingly, he had one particularly strange comment to make about West's supposed wish to run for president. In an article from The Rolling Stonehill, Lauren Kelley discusses how Kanye and Trump are similar, although Trump doesn't necessarily see this. Kelley also includes some comments from Trump from a filmed interview with him. Trump is quoted as saying of Kanye that, "He's actually a different kind of person than people think. He's a nice guy...I hope to run against him someday."
To me, Trump and West are more similar than they may seem. Sure, West was under the influence when giving his speech. However, I wouldn't doubt that he wants to run for president. West is well-known for making grand statements, especially those about how remarkable he is. I have no reason to believe that he has any true political knowledge. And, to me, the same goes for Trump. He too sees himself as remarkable. He always seems to think he's right. He may have strong political opinions. But this does not mean he has any strong political knowledge. He has no considerable experience in politics.
A wide variety of candidates, many of them unique, are likely running because they desire great change in the country. But the kind of change Trump or West, would bring is not the right kind.
