Rapper Kanye West has officially launched his bid to the next president of United State as he held an unorthodox campaign rally in Charleston, South Carolina.
The 43 year old producer / rapper is running as a candidate for his self-styled “Birthday Party”. During the he seemed to make policy decisions off-the-cuff and made several rants, including on abortion and on abolitionist Harriet Tubman.
Most of Kanye fans still feel that the last minute stab at the White House is a publicity stunt that the controversial rapper is pulling because he clearly stands no chance to win.
The Charleston rally did little to clarify if he is really serious not but a now-deleted tweet sent from West’s account on Saturday, appearing to show the song list for a new album still adds to the speculation.
The rally was held at a wedding and conference hall in Charleston and was open to registered guests only – but the rapper’s campaign website had no function for people to register or RSVP.
There were no audience microphones either and West kept telling the crowd to be silent so he could hear the questions being asked.
Controversial West nearly cried when people talked about abortion, saying that his parents almost aborted him: “There would have been no Kanye West, because my dad was too busy.”
As the rally progressed West gave an impromptu monologue about 19th century abolitionist Harriet Tubman. “Harriet Tubman never actually freed the slaves, she just had the slaves go work for other white people,” he said.
His speech on Tubman has been met with anger by some – mostly sparked by his comments about Tubman – but also with concern over West’s welfare.
