Just when you thought 2020 couldn’t get much crazier, along comes Kanye West to announce that he’s running for president. Not only that, but he’s got Elon Musk supporting him, too.

West tweeted on the evening of Independence Day, complete with hashtag #2020VISION:

https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/1279575273365594112?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1279575273365594112%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fthehill.com%2Fblogs%2Fin-the-know%2Fin-the-know%2F505893-kanye-tweets-hes-running-for-president

And here’s Elon Musk:

You have my full support!

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 5, 2020

Of course if he truly wants to run for president, Kanye West is a wee bit late to officially file in several states. According to Ballotpedia, he’s missed the deadline to run as an independent in places like New York, Texas, and his home state of Illinois.

So is he serious or not? Well, this is Kanye West we’re talking about, it’s 2020, and we’re just starting on the second half of the Most Crazy Year in recent history. At this point anything could be true, right?

As for social media, some Twitter users were all in. Even those who barely have a grasp on spelling and sentence construction:

“BEAT TRUNP AND BIDEN THEYRE BOTH RAC/PISTS LETS GOOO”

While more serious journos announced that if he ran, Kanye West would benefit Trump. And that’s their biggest fear.

Kanye West went from endorsing Trump to claiming he’d run against him —an announcement that benefits the president to the degree it spotlights Biden’s need for black voters & his potential weakness with young voters https://t.co/0m4PUO6s6a

— Marc Caputo (@MarcACaputo) July 5, 2020

Plus, doesn’t Kanye West support the President? Well, beginning in 2016, West was outspoken in his support for Trump, even though he didn’t vote at all. He appeared on Saturday Night Live wearing a MAGA hat. Both men even tweeted each other. West’s wife, Kim Kardashian West, worked with Trump on criminal justice reform.

Kanye West also met with Trump at the White House in 2018. That’s him wearing the red MAGA hat. He also posed with Trump, saying “I love this guy right here.”

Credit: Official White House Photo/public domain.

However, later West went a bit cold on the President, tweeting:

“My eyes are now wide open and now realize I’ve been used to spread messages I don’t believe in. I am distancing myself from politics and completely focusing on being creative.”

However, late in 2019 West appeared with radio host Big Boy to talk Jesus, slavery, and why blacks shouldn’t let white liberals dictate their vote.

So what is going on with Kanye West, aka “Yeezy”?

Bottom line: he’s not serious about running for President, at least not now. He has, however, made noises in that direction, such as in 2015, when he said he would run in 2020. Then, last November, he said he would run in 2024.

But while Kanye West and President Trump may appear quite different on the surface, they’re really very much alike: they’re both masters of promotion. And both are high energy individuals with incredible persistence and business sense.

That may be why Elon Musk likes the idea of a Kanye West run for president. Even in 2015, he saw something in West, as he wrote in TIME:

“Kanye’s belief in himself and his incredible tenacity — he performed his first single with his jaw wired shut — got him to where he is today. . . But Kanye does think. Constantly. About everything. And he wants everybody else to do the same: to engage, question, push boundaries. Now that he’s a pop culture juggernaut, he has the platform to achieve just that. He’s not afraid of being judged or ridiculed in the process. Kanye’s been playing the long game all along, and we’re only just beginning to see why.” 

And, lo and behold, guess who just inked an enormous, 10-year deal with the Gap store. Yep, Kanye West. Gap hasn’t been doing well recently, and they’re hoping that the introduction of a “Yeezy Gap” apparel line might be just what they need. As for West — this deal will fulfill his dream to design and produce “modern, elevated basics for men, women and kids at accessible price points.”

West then celebrated his new deal via a handwritten mural in Chicago near the same Gap store he worked at as a teen:

“Thank God. Hi Chicago, it’s Ye. This is the Gap store I used to shop at when I would drive my Nissan from the Southside. So Blessed. I thank God and I am so humbled at the opportunity to serve. I put my heart into the color palette and every detail.”

But that’s not all. Last month Kanye West announced that he would be releasing a new album, God’s Country, and dropped a short excerpt from the song “Wash Us in the Blood.” On top of that, he also plans to produce a film entitled Jesus is King. 

Needless to say, West is a bit too busy to run for president. So no, I’m not giving that announcement any credence whatsoever. Like Trump, Kanye West knows how to generate publicity.

However, I wouldn’t be surprised if he did run for public office at some point. After all, he’s only 43, married and the father of four children, and richer than Croesus. And, as his friend Elon Musk noted, he knows how to play the long game.

Now I’m not a fan of rap music at all, and I probably will never download any of Kanye West’s songs. But I have come away with new respect for the man. Not only is he creative, brilliant, and successful, he also seems to have discovered his grounding in his family and his faith. Plus, he doesn’t accept black victim mentality which requires him to think — and vote — in lockstep with his race. No, Yeezy isn’t running for president, but he probably will run for public office in the future, and he’ll be fun to watch.

Featured image: Jason Persse/flickr/cropped/CC BY-SA 2.0.