On Sunday, in a bizarre kickoff for his presidential run, Kanye West held his first campaign rally. During the event he said if he is elected president everyone with a baby will get a million dollars, weed will be free, he claimed his brain was too big for his skull and made an outrageous claim about abolitionist Harriet Tubman.
“Harriet Tubman never actually freed the slaves, she just had them work for other white people,” West falsely claimed. His speech was rambling as he skipped from one subject to another.
At one point during his speech, he shared that his wife Kim Kardashian West had considered abortion. He broke down in tears as he then added that his father wanted to have him aborted. “There would have been no Kanye West… because my dad was too busy!,” West sobbed.
The rally began at 5 p.m. at the Exquis Event Center in North Charleston, South Carolina. West, who was wearing a bulletproof vest, had the numbers “2020” in his hair.
During the rally, the rapper invited a couple of young women from the audience to join him on stage. He asked them to share the issues that concerned them. The women spoke briefly then West launched into a speech that had no structure and covered a wide range of topics. He spoke about his battle with drug addiction, his business dealings with Adidas, and spoke about his pro-life stance.
When discussing abortion West stated that “I almost killed my daughter. I love my daughter. … God wants us to create.” West has four children with Kim Kardashian West.
“No more Plan B — Plan A,” but he received a mixed response from the crowd on that. West then clarified that he believes abortion should be legal, but that there should be more support for those who need it.
“The maximum increase would be everybody that has a baby gets a million dollars or something in that range,” West stated.
He went on to state that marijuana “should be free.” After talking about weed he took questions from the audience before wrapping up the hour-long rally.
In South Carolina, a candidate needs 10,000 signatures to get on the presidential ballot as an independent candidate. Because the state is under a state of emergency because of the coronavirus the deadline for signatures was extended from last Wednesday to Monday, June 20. West used his social media platforms to ask followers for their signatures.
Everyone who attended West’s rally was asked to sign a COVID-19 liability release form, and to social distance and wear a mask.
One of West’s advisors had earlier stated that West was going to drop out of the race, but that now does not appear to be the case. The campaign is now working to gather signatures to get West on ballots.
A source within his campaign says West is planning several other rallies including one in New York.
Just last week, West paid the $35,000 registration fee to get on the ballot in Oklahoma. However, he will need to get on the ballots of several other states to be able to reach the 270 electoral votes necessary to win the presidency.
Earlier this month, West, 43, registered to vote for the first time.
