Kanye West is defying President Trump’s request to drop out of the 2020 presidential race to avoid allegations that Trump and West are colluding against Democratic challenger Joe Biden.
TMZ reports West has filed with the Federal Election Commission — declaring that the Kanye 2020 committee will serve as the “Principal Campaign Committee” with West as its candidate.
West’s independent party is listed on the form as BDY … which stands for The Birthday Party.
According to TMZ, West has yet to file the more important Form 2 — Statement of Candidacy — which shows he’s raised or spent more than $5,000 in campaign activity and triggers candidacy status under federal campaign finance law.
Earlier, West ended his bid for the presidency, allegedly after receiving a call from his pal Trump asking him to drop out.
The 43-year-old rapper announced his intention to run for president on July 4. Democrats immediately accused West of conspiring with Trump to help him siphon off Democratic votes.
According to New York Magazine‘s Intelligencer magazine, Steve Kramer confirmed the Yeezy rapper won’t be running against Trump and Joe Biden for the POTUS position.
“He’s out,” Kramer said, according to the publication.
When asked for more details on what had happened, Kramer replied: “I’ll let you know what I know once I get all our stuff canceled. We had over 180 people out there today.”
But Washington insiders say Trump called West and convinced him to drop out of the race because his campaign was hampered by the controversy surrounding West.
“Trump asked him to drop out, so Kanye’s out,” said the insider.
West reportedly took out a PPP loan for $2 million to pay his staff. He later donated that money to the daughter of George Floyd.
