Kanye West Announces Running Mate, Plus: His Thoughts on Trump, Biden, and More

Rapper Kanye West is getting candid about his presidential campaign, and his worldview.

West announced he was running for president on the Fourth of July, and now he's opening up to Forbes in a wide-ranging interview about President Donald Trump, Joe Biden, and more.

First off, Kanye isn't a Republican or a Democrat, but a member of the "Birthday Party." Why? “Because when we win, it's everybody's birthday.” He later added, “I would run as a Republican if Trump wasn't there. I will run as an Independent if Trump is there.”

His slogan is “YES”! The Grammy winner explained, “My campaign is, 'Kanye West YES,' not 'YEP,' not 'YEAH.' 'YES. YES. YES'... When I'm president, let's also have some fun. Let's get past all the racism conversation, let's empower people with 40 acres and a mule, let's give some land, that's the plan.”

He also announced his running mate will be Michelle Tidball, a 57-year-old "biblical life coach" from Cody, Wyoming, where Kanye owns property.

Tidball worked as a mental health therapist in the past, and as an executive director at Bright Futures Mentoring Program.

Meanwhile, Kanye's current advisors include his wife Kim Kardashian and tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, who have both shown support for his candidacy on Twitter. Kanye already has a job for Elon in mind: "I proposed to him to be the head of our space program.”

West also spoke of his competition. The former Trump supporter said, “One of the main reasons I wore the [Make America Great Again] red hat as a protest to the segregation of votes in the Black community. Also, other than the fact that I like Trump hotels and the saxophones in the lobby.”

He added, “Trump is the closest president we've had in years to allowing God to still be part of the conversation.”

Now, he says, “It looks like one big mess to me.”

West further explained, “I'm not saying Trump's in my way, he may be a part of my way. And Joe Biden? Like, come on, man, please. You know? Obama's special. Trump's special. We say Kanye West is special. America needs special people that lead. Bill Clinton? Special. Joe Biden's not special.”

He later said, “A lot of times, just like political parties, they feel all Blacks have to be Democrat. This man, Joe Biden, said if you don't vote for me, then you are not Black. Well, act like we didn't hear that? We act like we didn't hear that man say that? That man said that. It's a rap. We gonna walk, all the people. JAY-Z said it best. For the other candidates, I just gracefully suggest y'all bow out — Trump and Biden, gracefully bow out. It's God's country, we are doing everything in service to God, nobody but God no more. I am in service of our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ, and I put everything I get on the line to serve God.”

Explaining his plan for the White House, he said, “I'm gonna use the framework of Wakanda right now because it's the best explanation of what our design group is going to feel like in the White House… like in the movie ['Black Panther'], in Wakanda, when the King went to visit that lead scientist to have the shoes wrap around her shoes. Just the amount of innovation that can happen, the amount of innovation in medicine — like Big Pharma — we are going to work, innovate, together.”

West, who just registered to vote for the first time, also shared that he is pro-life, against the death penalty, and hopes to end police brutality.

Another revelation in the interview included Kanye's battle with COVID-19 in February. He described his experience, saying, “Chills, shaking in the bed, taking hot showers, looking at videos telling me what I'm supposed to do to get over it.”

He said “we pray” for a cure, but he's wary of vaccines. "I'm extremely cautious,” he said. “That's the mark of the beast. They want to put chips inside of us, they want to do all kinds of things, to make it where we can't cross the gates of heaven. I'm sorry when I say 'they,' the humans that have the Devil inside them. And the sad thing is that, the saddest thing is that we all won't make it to heaven, that there'll be some of us that do not make it.”