Kanye West Is Maybe Still Running for President After All

He has reportedly filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission

BY Josiah HughesPublished Jul 15, 2020

Kanye West's possible presidential bid is proving to be even more dramatic than we ever could have imagined. This morning, news broke that he had reportedly dropped out of the race, but that may have been premature. After all, Elon Musk's favourite prospect has now officially registered his run with the Federal Election Commission.

According to TMZ, Kanye has filed the first form required to run for president. He filled out "Form 1, Statement of Organization" declaring that he will run with his party BDY, which stands for the Birthday Party.

UPDATE (7/15, 5:50 p.m. ET): Adding an extra layer of confusion to an already confusing situation, the FEC has confirmed to Rolling Stone that the Kanye 2020 committee indeed filed the Form 1 today, but then warned: "We cannot confirm the legitimacy of this filing so you may want to reach out to the treasurer listed in the filing." Kanye, though, has yet to publicly confirm or deny the filing, basically meaning we have no idea still if he's actually running or has dropped out.

That said, Kanye has not yet filed "Form 2, Statement of Candidacy," which will show that he has raised or spent more than $5,000 in campaign activity.

UPDATE (7/16, 11:20 a.m. ET): Kanye's presidential run is starting to look more real, as he's now filed the more important "Form 2, Statement of Candidacy," TMZ reports. This means he's now been raised to official candidacy status under federal campaign law. So yes, get ready for "Kanye 2020."

Either way, it's safe to say that Kanye is still trying to run for president — even if he keeps sucking in the polls.

 

Latest Coverage