Rapper Kanye West has apparently ruled out a 2024 presidential bid.
Mr West’s personal attorney Bruce Marks told Rolling Stone: “He is not a candidate for office in 2024.”
It comes after the singer, who legally changed his name to Ye, ran for president three years ago in what was said to be a practice run for the 2024 White House race.
This May, right-wing operative Milo Yiannopoulos declared himself the “director of political operations” of “YE24”, coming after the rapper signaled his intention last year to run for the White House again and released a campaign video in which he appeared alongside Mr Yiannopoulos.
But, despite expectations, it now appears Kanye won’t be launching another presidential bid after the October Federal Election Commission filing for Kanye 2020 showed the committee has less than $25,000 cash on hand.
As a result, it is very unlikely that a new presidential bid could be financed.
The election commission filings show Mr Yiannopoulos, who was previously accused of advocating for paedophilia after saying that sexual contact between 13-year-old boys and adult men can be “perfectly consensual,” is no longer on the payroll.
Just days after Mr Yiannopoulos declared he had taken the helm of Ye’s 2024 campaign in May, it came to light that he had purchased the internet domain name Ye24.com using the campaign credit card of another political client, Marjorie Taylor Greene.
The right-wing commentator denied any wrongdoing and insisted he had mixed up AMEX cards, but Ms Greene slammed Mr Yiannopoulos for “gross negligence”.
Mr Yiannopoulos was reinstated to Ye’s campaign team after he was fired following an appearance by Kanye and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes at a Mar-a-Lago dinner with Donald Trump.
But questions have arisen over the employment of the British-born Mr Yiannopoulos due to FEC regulations, which restrict foreign nationals from having decision-making roles in American political campaigns.
Recent filings also allege unauthorised spending by Kanye 2020 to Mr Yiannopoulos. A July FEC filing showed Mr Yiannopoulos received $31,200 from Kanye 2020 for what was listed as “campaign wrap up services.” But a memo attached to the filing read: “The legality of the Milo Yiannopoulos expenditure is under investigation by the Committee and Counsel.”
Kanye West and Donald Trump— (AFP via Getty Images)
Mr Yiannopoulos has been described by the Anti Defamation League as a “misogynistic, racist, xenophobic, transphobic troll.”
Mr West was previously dumped by the likes of Adidas, GAP and Balenciaga following a string of antisemitic comments and an appearance on Alex Jones’ Infowars podcast in which he said he “liked” Adolf Hitler.
The singer also previously supported Donald Trump, and even allegedly asked him to be his 2024 running mate.
Meanwhile, in 2016, Mr West said he does not have any political views, but rather he has “a view on humanity, on people, on the truth.”
