Yesterday, Kanye West sat down with Forbes for what the publication describes as “four rambling hours of interviews,” and now parts of that conversation have been shared. In a new feature published this morning, Kanye says a lot of things. For example, he insists that he no longer supports Donald Trump and compared his vision for the White House during his presidency as being like Wakanda, the fictional country from Black Panther.
Addressing his distancing from Trump, Kanye noted, “I am taking the red hat off, with this interview.” He also said, “It looks like one big mess to me.” He didn’t do a total 180 on his previous support of Trump, though, and still had some kind words for the POTUS, saying, “Trump is the closest president we’ve had in years to allowing God to still be part of the conversation.” He also gave his reasoning for wearing a red MAGA hat, saying, “One of the main reasons I wore the red hat as a protest to the segregation of votes in the Black community. Also, other than the fact that I like Trump hotels and the saxophones in the lobby.”
Kanye West says he’s done with Trump—opens up about White House bid, damaging Biden and everything in between https://t.co/i61oxwFDC4 by @RandallLane pic.twitter.com/ebleDW1aK1
— Forbes (@Forbes) July 8, 2020
He went on to criticize Joe Biden, saying, “I’m not saying Trump’s in my way, he may be a part of my way. And Joe Biden? Like come on man, please. You know? Obama’s special. Trump’s special. We say Kanye West is special. America needs special people that lead. Bill Clinton? Special. Joe Biden’s not special.”
Kanye also discussed his own presidential campaign, about which he appears to be serious. Although Kanye has missed filing deadlines to make his candidacy official, he believes he could still get on ballots anyway due to “coronavirus issues.” He is also running under a new political banner, the “Birthday Party,” “because when we win, it’s everybody’s birthday.” Kanye says his running mate is Michelle Tidball, who Forbes describes as “an obscure preacher from Wyoming.”
He also talked about his vision for the White House under his presidency, comparing it to Wakanda:
“A lot of Africans do not like the movie [Black Panther] and representation of themselves in… Wakanda. But I’m gonna use the framework of Wakanda right now because it’s the best explanation of what our design group is going to feel like in the White House… That is a positive idea: you got Kanye West, one of the most powerful humans — I’m not saying the most because you got a lot of alien level superpowers and it’s only collectively that we can set it free. Let’s get back to Wakanda… like in the movie in Wakanda when the king went to visit that lead scientist to have the shoes wrap around her shoes. Just the amount of innovation that can happen, the amount of innovation in medicine — like big pharma — we are going to work, innovate, together. This is not going to be some Nipsey Hussle being murdered, they’re doing a documentary, we have so many soldiers that die for our freedom, our freedom of information, that there is a cure for AIDS out there, there is going to be a mix of big pharma and holistic.”
Kanye talked a lot more about his presidential candidacy and political ideals, so read the full feature here.
