Rapper Kanye West has attracted national attention for his announcement to run for president under a third party he calls the “Birthday Party” — a difficult feat, considering that he hasn’t registered with the Federal Election Commission and deadline to file has approached or already passed in 13 states.No, really.
Our Kanye sources tell us, he suffers a serious bout with his bipolar disorder, usually once a year ... and our sources say Kanye's in the midst of one now.
And it turns out he's not running, after all.
The signature-gathering process was described as ongoing, and Kramer said “we had overwhelming support to get him on the ballot.” He added, “Whether anybody is going to vote for him or not is up to them.” Kramer described the effort as including both paid and volunteer efforts to get signatures. “They got a lot of people who they’ve got both on their volunteer side and their contracted side,” said Kramer.
This all seemed real enough, and I reached out to West’s publicist for a response. The initial response was to loop in another spokesperson on the email. West’s team then went dark. As I waited for a response, I followed up with Kramer who told me, “He’s out.”
I asked what happened. “I’ll let you know what I know once I get all our stuff canceled. We had over 180 people out there today,” Kramer said.
About an hour after that exchange, West posted a video on Twitter of the rapper registering to vote for the first time at the county clerk’s office in Cody, Wyoming. The video started with West telling the audience, “I want to show you how I just registered to vote.” It then displayed the text “I thank God and I am so humbled at the opportunity to serve. Vote,” before showing West filling out his registration form. He then engaged in a brief conversation with a local official about felon disenfranchisement.
When I finally connected with Kramer on Thursday night, he was philosophical. “I have nothing good or bad to say about Kanye. Everyone has their personal decision about why they make decisions. Running for president has to be one of the hardest things for someone to actually contemplate at that level.” He noted the obstacles that a first-time candidate faces, and “any candidate running for president for the first time goes through these hiccups.”
Kramer noted that the staff he had hired were disappointed not just because they would be out of a job, but because they were excited about what a Kanye West campaign represented.
Which is hardly a surprise. But why was anybody still paying attention to his political aspirations? Sure, he's rich and famous; he's also seriously ill.
We should be ashamed. And his friends and family should do more to help him.
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