Ye confirmed on Saturday he will be a candidate for U.S. president in 2024.
Asked by a videographer for paparazzi agency X17 if he is running, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West replied: “Yes.”
He added: “Simple. No advisors to tell me, you know, ‘you should say this, you should say that.’ It’s just we’re moving towards the future.”
The announcement came moments after the paparazzo captured Ye walking into a building in Los Angeles accompanied by British provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos, who he said is “working on the campaign.” Ye then asked “Is that an announcement?” and Yiannopoulos responded: “I guess it is.”
Yiannopoulos is the former editor of far-right Breitbart News who was forced to resign after saying sexual relationships between adults and 13-year-old boys can be “perfectly consensual.” Earlier this year, he worked as an unpaid intern for Republican congresswoman and conspiracy theorist Marjorie Taylor Greene.
Ye proceeded to show off “Ye 24” apparel that he said will sell for only $20. He said it was being made using pieces from his Yeezy, Balenciaga, Gap and Adidas collections – all of which were pulled following his anti-Semitic comments.
“We need to make sure that everyone … receives the same level of food, the same level of water, same level of education and curriculum," he said.
“The engineering. We’re beings with engineering opportunities. We’re getting past the past. We’re focused on the future.”
Ye added: “Everything’s been so divisive. Think about when they say ‘diversity.’ People look at that like it’s a good thing. But we’re a United States of America. We’re a universe. We’re a republic.”
In 2019, Ye told an audience at the Fast Company Innovation Festival that he would seek the U.S. presidency in 2024 as “Christian Genius Billionaire Kanye West.”
A one-time Trump supporter, Ye announced his candidacy for the 2020 election only four months ahead of the election but didn’t register with the Federal Election Commission and called it quits days after the announcement.
In a 2016 interview with BBC Radio 1, West talked about his lack of political experience. “When I talk about the idea of being president, I’m not saying I have any political views," he said. "I don’t have views on politics, I just have a view on humanity, on people, on the truth.
"If there is anything that I can do with my time and my day, to somehow make a difference while I’m alive, I’m going to try to do it.”
Ye’s empire started crumbling in early October when he sported a shirt emblazoned with "White Lives Matter," a phrase that has been used by white supremacist groups and denounced by the U.S.-based Anti-Defamation League. He responded to criticism by writing in an Instagram Story: “Everyone knows that Black Lives Matter was a scam. Now it’s over. You’re welcome.”
Ye then came under fire after he shared screenshots of a text conversation with Diddy in which he told the hip hop mogul: "Ima use you as an example to show the Jewish people that told you to call me that no one can threaten or influence me. I told you this was war.” After the post was removed by Instagram, Ye tweeted: “I’m a bit sleepy tonight but when I wake up I’m going death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE.
“The funny thing is I actually can’t be Anti Semitic because black people are actually Jew also. You guys have toyed with me and tried to black ball anyone whoever opposes your agenda.”
He later wrote: “Who you think created cancel culture?”
Ye doubled down on his comments, prompting Adidas and Balenciaga to cut ties with him. (His deal with Gap was scrapped in September.) Also distancing itself was Kano Stem Player, with whom Ye had partnered for his Donda 2 release.
Talent agency CAA confirmed dropped him from its roster and Ye's label G.O.O.D. Music was from Def Jam (his own contract with Def Jam ended with 2021's Donda). Production company MRC Studio said it has shelved a documentary film about Ye because it “cannot support any content that amplifies his platform.”