It looks as if Republican candidate Donald Trump is more than happy to encourage competition in Kanye West as a prospective candidate for the US presidency. Responding to the rapper’s undoubtably tongue-in-cheek declaration that he would run for president in 2020, Trump has shown support for West, stating that “he’s actually a different kind of person than people think. He’s a nice guy. I hope to run against him someday.”
West, who decided to make the grand statement at the end of his Video Vanguard acceptance speech at the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday 30 August, originally told viewers: “It’s not about me. It’s about ideas. New ideas. People with ideas. People who believe in truth. And yes, as you probably could’ve guessed by this moment, I have decided in 2020 to run for President.”
In the wake of this event, Trump told Rolling Stone: “He’s said very nice things about me in the past... extremely positive things. I was actually watching, I saw [his speech] and I said, ‘That’s very interesting. I wonder who gave him that idea?’”
As it transpires, it is more than likely that the seed was planted in West’s head by a member of the VMA audience, who can be heard shouting “Kanye for president!” before West himself decides to announce his ambitions:
Me foreshadowing @kanyewest's 2020 bid for President!!! #VMAs @MTV pic.twitter.com/TZlsek6ADh
— • (@0nlyPablo) August 31, 2015
In spite of the unlikelihood of West’s prospective campaign, he has found support in Rihanna, who told one reporter - “People are voting for Trump; who wouldn’t vote for Kanye?” - as well as the White House press secretary, Josh Earnest, who told Billboard that he looks “forward to seeing what slogan he chooses to embroider on his campaign hat”.
