Kanye West announced at the 2015 VMAs at the end of August that he was running for president in 2020 while making his speech for winning the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award.
Although Mr. West mentioned in his acceptance speech that he did in fact take the edge off before he went on stage, I still took him seriously. After the Kanye rant, people on twitter would tweet a mixture of excitement, anger, and confusion about the entire situation.
Although Kanye is a lyrical genius and while I still think “New Slaves” should have won the Grammy in 2014 for “Best Rap Song” over Macklemore’s “Thrift Shop,” I do not think I would legitimately vote for him as president. He is completely capable of running, but I think mixing politician and entertainer are like mixing water and oil. There is always going to be a distinction and separation.
This glorification of a celebrity as politician comes from the lack of interest actual politics has towards the younger generation. This could be due to a variety of reasons about politics. Most of my friends think politics are either too messy or too boring.
Arguably, popular culture is more entertaining than politics to some people and the other way around for others. Yet, I do not see the seriousness of politics being embedded with the entertainment of popular culture.
It is important for those who would rather see a musical artist or entertainer running a country to actually think about what that would be like in the long run.
Being informed and staying up to date with whichever political candidate you agree with and support is just as easy as being knowledgeable about the current state of celebrities in popular culture.
It really just is an inner battle to change your interests and navigate yourself differently on the internet.
Donald Trump is currently an example of a media mogul that presents himself in a manner that keeps an audience laughing and cheering, but not so much fully informed on policy or social, economic, and political issues.
Mr. Trump is definitely worth discussing completely separate in his entirety, but he is relevant in drawing people’s attention during his presidential campaign.
Although my likability towards Mr. West and Trump differ on two very different scales, I cannot picture either of them sitting in the oval office.