By: Epiphany Johnican
Kanye West shows that his ego is at best when he announces during the Grammy’s that he will be running for President for the 2020 election
But who exactly is Kanye West? Most of us know Kanye West as an egotistical hip-hop artist. Can a celebrity with a reputation for smoking blunts be taken seriously as a presidential candidate?
Political science major Rainie Grant said Kanye West is legally qualified to be president.
“In order to be president, a person must be at least 35 years old, be a natural born citizen, and be a permanent resident for at least 14 years,” she said.
West is actually 38 years old, was born in Atlanta, Georgia, and lives in California. So, he does fit the qualifications.
But Grant said he is very inexperienced in the political realm.
“Politically, he would just not be appropriate for this country and the direction we need to go in the future,” she said. “He is very overconfident which I feel would hurt us diplomatically… He fits the textbook definition of what a president has to be, but he doesn’t have any political experience.”
First year student Sam Derby said that while she doesn’t know much about West, one thing does come to mind when she hears his name: the scandal with Taylor Swift.
Do we really need someone “scandalous” running for president? Yes, most if not all presidents have had their scandals, but they at least waited until they were in office. How can he be trusted as a president?
In all fairness, Kanye West has had his serious and affectionate moments. In 2006 just before accusing President George Bush of being a racist on live TV, he encouraged the viewers to donate money to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina. So kind, right?
Additionally, when Kanye West interrupted Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech, he truly believed that he was establishing justice for Beyonce. Such a hero!… NOT!
All jokes aside, Kanye might not be the ideal presidential candidate, but at least he puts his heart into what he says. In his interview with Jimmy Kimmel, he talked about the importance of following your dreams, the importance of truth, information, awesomeness and how the only luxury you have is time.
You often do not see political figures and presidential candidates so passionate and down to earth.
Nevertheless, this is all probably just a publicity stunt. Kanye was probably as serious as Donald Trump was when he announced on Jimmy Kimmel that he would like Kanye as his running mate. Some of us might even have our ballots out, ready to vote him into office.
No one man should have all that power. Well, not Kanye West, anyway.
