Our society has a propensity for covertly liking the unlikeable. Maybe it's because we appreciate those who do and say things we don’t have the gall to put forth ourselves, or maybe it's simply because we love the chaos those characters bring to society. With either reason in mind, enter Donald Trump and Kanye West. On the surface, two completely different icons, yet if you call “business” and “music” by the same word, Trump and West’s bios become eerily similar — each man defined by his severe ego, limitless ambition, immense success and a comical amount of controversy.
With Kanye’s recent 2020 presidential announcement at The MTV Video Music Awards, and Trump’s current Republican candidacy runaway, maybe it's time to imagine these two great forces colliding in an election. While it may not make for the most erudite of elections, in a country plagued by a seemingly endless list of issues, it could certainly help illuminate our political flaws. Whether or not you, as a citizen, would support either candidate, the implications of such an election are interesting.
Kanye boomed over the cheer of a confused but nonetheless riled VMA crowd, “I don’t know what I finna lose after this. It don’t matter though, cuz it ain’t about me.”
Kanye makes a point: Speaking your mind shouldn’t mean tarnishing your image. Sensitivity is beginning to mask free speech and society is worse off because of it. Politicians constantly dance around topics in order to appease the multitudes of agendas. Though Trump is often criticized for his brash, sometimes ignorant, comments, it’s clear he is beginning to change the game in terms of speaking one’s mind. If candidates start following this trend of unabridged speech, we will be rewarded with a more transparent, clearer understanding of our candidates and their beliefs. Not only that, but candidates may also adopt Trump's confidence.
Now, confidence goes by many names. Whether “swagger” is in your lexicon, or you tend to use “arrogance” more, everyone can agree both Kanye and Trump are the epitome of such descriptors. While too much confidence can be a bad thing, we only need to look at the polls to see how the U.S. responds to it. Trump’s dumbfounding surge in the polls doesn't exactly correlate with his positions on keys topics. America just loves a man who gets what he wants. Candidates must begin matching Trump and Kanye’s confidence or forever hold their policies. On the other side of the coin, maybe we need Trump to help us realize the faults in voting based on presentation. While presentation and oration are key components of a successful presidency, they certainly are not the most important.
Yet, I would be remiss if I didn’t at least explore the idea of a joint ticket. In fact, in a recent phone interview with "The View," Trump was asked if he would consider Mr. West as a running mate, to which he jeered, “The thing I like most about Kanye West is that he always speaks so nicely about me.” The Donald may be for it, but if I know anything about Kanye, he may have some problems with not being the first name on the ticket.
I’m not blind to the fact that “Kanye West for president” may seem as about legitimate as “Vote for Pedro,” but if this current race has taught us anything, it’s never to count a candidate out. While meticulously perfected beats may not translate to strong foreign policy; who knows, maybe Kanye’s got some tricks up his sleeve. But if the politics do end up the same, I still would appreciate a Trump vs. West debate. I’m already seeing Kanye and Trump WWE-esque intros.
