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Dressed in a bullet-proof vest and with “2020” shaved into his head, Kanye West launched his campaign tour for the 2020 presidential election in an extremely problematic fashion over the weekend. The event, held at North Charleston’s Exquis Event Centre, was essentially a microphone-less ramble on West’s behalf that touched on a far-reaching spectrum of topics, from abortion to Harriet Tubman, homeless to the intimacies of his marriage with Kim Kardashian West.
West only announced his intentions to run for the U.S. presidency July 5 (when the election is a mere four months away), and while theoretically he can still run as an independent candidate, ballots have closed in multiple states, and it would take a hell of a lot of money and signatures for him to have even the smallest chance. Many critics (and fans) suggested this entire thing is nothing more than a publicity stunt – West has been teasing new music for a while now – but the chaotic rally suggest that maybe, the musician is serious. Regardless, it was an emotionally-charged event. See some of the gritty details below.
On black slavery:
To a silent crowd, West announced that “Harriet Tubman never actually freed the slaves, she just had the slaves go work for other white people”.
Kanye said this and I left immediately. I went for a laugh and I got one. But when it got disrespectful for me it was over. pic.twitter.com/nNqjUp03mu
— Toe Knee (@toekneerlynos) July 19, 2020
On daughter North:
West told attendees the extremely intimate details involved when Kim found out she was pregnant with the pair’s first child, North West. According to a report by Us Weekly, he explained that Kardashian-West initially feared West had given her AIDS, but instead found out she was pregnant. According to West, Kardashian-West was considering an abortion until a “divine intervention” changed their minds:
“I was having the rapper’s lifestyle… I was sitting up in Paris, and I had my leather pants on … and I had my laptop up and I got all of my creative ideas. And the screen went black and white and God said, ‘if you fuck with my vision I’m going to fuck with yours’.
“And I called my wife and she said, we’re gonna have this baby. I said we’re gonna have this child … So even if my wife were to divorce me after this speech, she brought North into the world when I didn’t want to. She stood up and she protected that child.”
On abortion in general:
West, who has publicly explained his pro-life stance, began to sob hysterically when he discussed the fact his father had wanted his mother to have an abortion when she was pregnant with him.
“My mom saved my life. My dad wanted to abort me. My mom saved my life. There would have been no Kanye West because my dad was too busy.” He then shouted, “I almost killed my daughter! I almost killed my daughter!”
Speaking about abortion, Kanye West becomes emotional. This is his first Presidential campaign event, happening now in SC. He indicated opposition to emergency contraceptives, saying “No more Plan B. Plan A.” pic.twitter.com/1J2O3EUtWp
— Jacqui Heinrich (@JacquiHeinrich) July 19, 2020
On money for new mothers:
In response to a pro-choice activist in the crowd, West said the following:
“My stance is not to make abortion illegal at all. It should always be legal. But there should be an option of maximum increase available … Maximum increase would be, everybody that has a baby gets a million dollars.”
On religion:
West, who is the brain behind his very own “Sunday Service” is extremely vocal about his devotion to Christianity:
“We are all equal in God’s eyes… Sometimes people are controlled by demons, sometimes people are controlled by the environment that we are in but we are all God’s people, there [are] no bad people. There are lost people, but we are all God’s people.”