Baller Alert Entertainment & Lifestyle
Kanye West announced he will be running for president in 2020. And everyone wants to know one thing: Is he for real?
Whether he is or isn’t, one thing’s for sure is that his new decision to run for president is a sure-fire tactic to divide the Democratic vote, and the Black community’s votes for #JoeBiden, which would ultimately ensure a second term for Donald Trump. Complex Media sat down virtually with Campaign specialist Nathan L Gonzales, editor and publisher of nonpartisan publication Inside Elections, who explained the possible outcome of West’s placement in the presidential election.
“Right now, this is not a campaign,” said Gonzales. “This is a tweet about a potential campaign. Running for president is more than a tweet and even some television ads. I mean, there are things you have to do to actually run for president. There’s an infrastructure you have to have in place, and the infrastructure is working against him. The timeline is working against him. And that’s even before we get to the question of if there’s even an electorate who wants him to be president of the United States.”
West announced he would be running for president on July 4, however, Gonzales explains that there are a number of steps that West must take before his campaign announcement becomes legitimate. The outlet reports that he would have to register with the Federal Election Commission, present a campaign platform, and collect signatures from voters. “Unless you are a Republican or a Democrat, it is difficult to get your name on the ballot. “The barriers are higher. You have to gather thousands of signatures from registered voters in individual states in order to make the ballot, and that’s hard. That can be overcome with money and time, but he doesn’t have that much time right now. I mean, the deadlines have passed in six states,” said Gonzales.
Not to mention the new billionaire has already missed the deadline in six states, including North Carolina, Texas, New York, Maine, New Mexico, and Indiana. He would have to collect 200,000 signatures in 30 days, according to journalist Daniel Nichanian. While it seems unlikely that he’d get a candidate spot, it’s not impossible if he puts time and money behind it. The first thing he would need to do is file with the Federal Election Commission. ”If you raise or spend more than $5,000 on a campaign, you need to file with the Federal Election Commission, because there are rules on how much money you can take from individuals to contribute to your campaign. And if you want to give yourself money for the campaign, you have to go through these official channels. You also can’t use corporate entities or other businesses to prop up your campaign. If he doesn’t get the right legal counsel, he could quickly run afoul of federal election law because he can’t use his business entities to promote a presidential campaign without going through the proper steps,” explains Gonzales.
Gonzales says that he doesn’t take West as a serious candidate, but it would be wise to watch his moves in the upcoming weeks. “Watch to see what his next steps are. If Kanye is serious about running, he will be forming an official committee and putting things in place to become a serious candidate,” he said. We once doubted Trump, and welp, here we are.
Gonzales says that he doesn’t take West as a serious candidate, but it would be wise to watch his moves in the upcoming weeks. “Watch to see what his next steps are. If Kanye is serious about running, he will be forming an official committee and putting things in place to become a serious candidate,” he said. We once doubted Trump, and welp, here we are.
