Kanye West takes anti-vaccine, anti-abortion stance in US presidential bid

Kanye West has given more details about the policy platform he will adopt in his bid to become US president in November, declaring himself anti-abortion, sceptical about a Covid-19 vaccine and keen to return “fear and love of God” to education.

In an interview with Forbes, he announced that he would run under the banner of the Birthday party, “because when we win it’s everybody’s birthday”. His campaign slogan is a leaner version of Barack Obama’s “Yes we can” message, reading simply “YES”.

West has missed the deadline to appear on the ballot in a number of states, but he argued that he could be added as a latecomer due to the coronavirus.He said he was “going to speak with Jared Kushner, the White House, with Biden” to make his bid a reality – although he was also critical of the presumptive Democratic nominee.

West’s campaign advisers are his wife, the TV star Kim Kardashian-West, and the Tesla founder Elon Musk, both of whom have endorsed him. Speaking about Musk, West said: “I proposed to him to be the head of our space programme.”

West said that if he were to win – either in 2020 or 2024, the year in which he previously hinted he would run – it would be “God’s appointment”. He praised Donald Trump as “the closest president we’ve had in years to allowing God to still be part of the conversation”.


https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/jul/08/kanye-west-takes-anti-vaccine-anti-abortion-stance-in-us-presidential-bid?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

The rapper intends to run for election under the banner of “the Birthday Party.”

“I would run as a Republican if Trump wasn’t there. I will run as an independent if Trump is there,” West told Forbes

West says he believes he was sick with Covid-19 in February and is suspicious of a potential vaccine, according to Forbes.

West denied that his announcement was a publicity stunt for his upcoming album

West has selected Michelle Tidball, a preacher from Wyoming, to be his running mate, according to the report

NOTE: West has taken almost no concrete steps toward a presidential bid, including filing papers officially declaring a candidacy, qualifying for ballot access or building out a campaign infrastructure

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-07-08/rapper-kanye-west-says-he-no-longer-supports-trump-forbes


Who is Michelle Tidball, his running mate?

In a wide-ranging interview with Forbes — in which Kanye West confirmed he is serious about running for president—the famed billionaire rapper said he plans to tap as his running mate Michelle Tidball, who describes herself as a “biblical life coach,” and who once said on one of her bible teleconferences that she doesn’t “watch news.”

In Cody, the 57-year-old Tidball runs her own online bible study program under the nonprofit name “Abundant Ministries.”

On her biography page, Tidball touts “various degrees in mental health and criminal justice” and says she previously “worked as a mental health therapist for ten years” before transitioning into life coaching.

Tidball previously served as an executive director of Bright Futures Mentoring Program, a nonprofit that helped mentor students in Cody https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackbrewster/2020/07/08/who-is-michelle-tidball-kanye-wests-proposed-presidential-running-mate/#7cb4b1341ee1