Kanye West concedes presidential run, but eyes 2024 election

Rapper Kanye West bowed out of the 2020 presidential election with a tweet that both conceded the race and announced his intentions to run in 2024.

Late Wednesday night Yeezy Brand billionaire posted his withdrawal from the presidential race with a photo of himself in his signature Dr. Manhattan blue sweatshirt, silhouetted by a map of the country’s live election results. “Welp,” he wrote. “Kanye 2024.” 

Earlier in the day, West announced he would be voting for himself at the polls. “God is so good,” he wrote. “Today I am voting for the first time in my life for the President of the United States, and it’s for someone I truly trust…me.”

In a series of tweets, West posted photos of himself at the voting booth and filling out his ballot. He included a video of his name and running mate Michelle Tiball’s printed in the write-in section of his ballot, along with a message that read: “Keep believing Kanye 2020. Thank you Jesus Christ.” 

In a follow-up he uploaded a video of himself feeding his ballot into the election machine along with an announcement that the ballot was the first he ever filled out. “The first vote of my life. We are here to serve. We pray for every servant leader in the world,” he wrote.  

I VOTED ?? pic.twitter.com/hlgIJUST4x

— ye (@kanyewest) November 3, 2020

West only officially appeared on the ballot in 12 states, after missing filing deadlines with the Federal Election Commission in most of the country. Within the twelve states, which include Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Utah, West’s vote count reached nearly 60,000.  

The highest number of voters turned out for the rapper in Tennessee with 10,195, followed by 7,654 in Minnesota, 6,259 in Kentucky, and 6,127 in Colorado. West didn’t fare well in Idaho, Iowa, and Mississippi with less than 3,200 votes in each location, and failed to surpass 1,300 votes in Vermont.  

Marie Finn