(Photo by Angela Weiss / AFP) (Photo by ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY — Rapper and clothing mogul Kanye West will be on the 2020 presidential ballot in Utah.
West collected the necessary 1,000 signatures and paid the $500 fee to file as an unaffiliated candidate in the Beehive State just before the Monday deadline, securing his spot on the Utah ballot.
According to the Deseret News, the filing for West and his running mate Michelle Tidball was made by Salt Lake lawyer Robert Harrington.
West announced his run for the presidency on July 4 on Twitter saying, “We must now realize the promise of America by trusting God, unifying our vision and building our future. I am running for president of the United States.”
That July 4 tweet got the attention of Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk who offered his own endorsement saying that West had his full support.
Those two tweets gathered a combined 1.5 million likes and over 550,000 retweets.
West had been a vocal supporter of President Donald Trump before announcing his bid for the Oval Office. He told Forbes just days after announcing that he was running that he would be, “taking the red hat off.”
“Trump is the closest president we’ve had in years to allowing God to still be part of the conversation,” he told Forbes chief content officer Randall Lane.
“I’m not saying Trump’s in my way, he may be a part of my way. And Joe Biden? Like come on man, please. You know? Obama’s special. Trump’s special. We say Kanye West is special. America needs special people that lead. Bill Clinton? Special. Joe Biden’s not special.”