Kanye West’s presidential campaign launches and we have some thoughts

In a bizarre series of videos, Kanye West presidential run started off in a peculiar fashion. The rapper was in Charleston, South Carolina on Sunday night at an event centre to speak to supporters and what was said was not expected.

Criticised in the past that his 2020 presidential run is a publicity stunt to sell an album or sell his merchandise with Adidas or for his clothing label, Kanye has said that he was taking this very seriously.

Speaking against abortion, pornography, slavery, and then breaking down in tears, the musician was even wearing a military-style vest during his perplexing appearance.

Kanye’s views on pornography and freedom:

At one stage he said: “Freedom does not come from an election. The freedom comes from you not loading up the pornography. The freedom comes from you not taking the Percocet.

“My mom saved my life. My dad wanted to abort me. There would have been no Kanye West because my dad was too busy.”

Kanye gets teary-eyed:

Breaking down in tears he further stated: “I almost killed my daughter. I almost killed my daughter and then they said to me you can’t tell them about this story, you going to lose your job.”

It’s unclear who Kanye was referring to when he said “they”. Many are speculating online that he might be referring to his wife Kim Kardashian-West’s family.

‘Harriet Tubman did not free slaves’: 

Kanye said: “Harriet Tubman never actually freed slaves, she just had them work for other white people.”

This is factual, not true, she did free slaves. Tubman is one of the most well known and celebrated African American’s in history during the 19th century.

She escaped slavery, then helped enslaved black men and women travel north of the country for freedom, as the south was still was practising slavery.

Attacking a supporter during his rally:

We are not sure how this confrontation started, but Kanye went off to a black supporter who was wearing a mask.

“Do you want to be that same person? Your face is covered, so we don’t even know who you are.”

He then dramatically walks off.

Twitter was divided on Kanye’s actions, and his words some saying that this was not an “episode” or mental breakdown, he was just pouring his heart out.

Kanye has said publicly that he suffers from bipolar disorder and is seeking help. There have been reports that Kim and those close around him are worried about his mental health after he announced his presidential run.

There is no chance that West will be on the ballot in several states come November when America is expected to vote as he missed qualifying ballot deadlines.

He is still yet to announce if he will be trying to collect enough signatures in other states.

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.