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9/22/2020, 12:00pm

Commentary: Kanye West has a bonkers presidential bid

By Matthew Unger

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On July 4, 2020, we celebrated the 244th birthday of the United States of America. It was also the day that Kanye West announced on Twitter that he would be running for president in the 2020 election.

So far, West has qualified to be on the November ballot in 12 states. 

Lots of people have speculated that West’s campaign is merely a publicity stunt to promote his music (or maybe even an attempt to take some votes away from Joe Biden).

But even if that is true, he still has some pretty wild campaign policies that make absolutely no sense for a man running for president. 

Let’s first take a look at his policy regarding religion. West has made religion a core component of his platform and is not shy about saying that. 

West has supported the idea of bringing back mandatory prayer into the school system. What? Doesn’t he know that mandatory school prayer was declared unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1962 due to the establishment clause? 

Trying to reinstate mandatory prayer would immediately be struck down by the courts. Sure, you have the right to pray individually in school. But mandating prayer for an entire classroom is unconstitutional. 

Another strange topic on West’s platform is his wariness about a COVID-19 coronavirus vaccine to stop the pandemic. 

West said he believes vaccines can paralyze children. Perhaps he was not aware of, let’s say, the polio vaccine, which kept children from being paralyzed. Anti-science rhetoric has no place in the White House, and West’s science denialism would ultimately cost people’s lives if he were president. 

Obviously, West has no chance of winning the election. Like I mentioned, he is only on the ballot in 12 states and has only polled in the single digits. 

Although he is running as an independent candidate, West has supported President Donald Trump in the past, even meeting with him in 2018 in the oval office. 

He recently said that he does not support Trump anymore. Interestingly, however, West’s comments about religion and vaccine hesitancy do resonate with the ideology of some conservatives and Trump voters. 

No matter how many votes Kanye West gets in November, his presidential campaign is definitely bonkers and his policies are more than ridiculous. 

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