Rapper and former Trump supporter Kanye West has announced his first campaign event backing a bewildering presidential run.
According to campaign documents obtained by Politico, West has set a campaign event for Sunday afternoon in South Carolina’s Exquis Event Center in North Charleston. Anyone who attends will have to sign a COVID-19 liability release form, wear a face mask and observe social distancing rules.
West announced on Twitter, seemingly in earnest, that he’d be running for president exactly two weeks ago on Fourth of July.
Politico reports that West filed an official statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission last week using The Birthday Campaign (BDY) as his political party affiliation.
Hi guys please sign up to put me on the ballot in South Carolina at any of these locations You can also sign up at the websitehttps://t.co/ZURvTEW9ee pic.twitter.com/3rV5ujExPm
— ye (@kanyewest) July 18, 2020
He also tweeted on Saturday evening asking his followers to sign a petition to get him on the South Carolina ballot. However, as ABC News reports, West missed South Carolina’s deadline to file as an independent candidate this week, and the state does not allow write-in candidates.
West was able to get on the ballot in Oklahoma this week by paying a $35,000 fee before the cut-off deadline in lieu of getting petition signatures. The deadlines to register as a write-in candidate have passed in several states, but many extend into August and September, leaving a small chance that West could muster enough petition signatures to get him on the ballots in those states. Several thousands of signatures are required for a write-in candidate in most states.
After several reports about the long-shot candidate dropping out circulated last week, many fans were surprised to see West commit to running. According to Politico, he has not registered in any major voting polls.
