Kanye “Ye” West has opened up about co-parenting with Kim Kardashian, his ongoing legal battle with Gap and his continued political ambitions in a wide-ranging interview with ABC, due to air Thursday evening on “Nightline” and previewed earlier in the day on “Good Morning America.”
Sitting with ABC News Live’s prime anchor Linsey Davis, the Grammy-winning rapper and multi-hyphenate creator confirmed that despite the level of scrutiny on his prior marriage, his “gospel school” Donda Academy and his dissolving fashion partnership with Gap, he may still be eyeing a presidential run in the future.
“Do you have future political aspirations?” Davis asked.
“Yes, absolutely,” he responded.
West memorably ran for president in 2020, ultimately conceding his bid that November after his fledgling, self-funded campaign failed to gain traction. (An FEC disclosure filing shows that he loaned $6.8 million to his own presidential committee.)
After his concession, West posted to Instagram: “Kanye 2024,” indicating future intentions.
In a 2020 interview with Forbes in which he denounced his former endorsement of former president Donald Trump and detailed the tenants of his campaign – under what he deemed the “Birthday Party” banner – West revealed that, with guidance from Elon Musk, he drew inspiration from Wakanda’s governance model, as seen in “Black Panther.”
He also said that 2020 felt like the time to run: “God just gave me the clarity and said it’s time. You know I was out there, ended up in the hospital, people were calling me crazy. I’m not crazy…. Now it’s time. And we’re not going crazy, we’re going Yeezy, it’s a whole ‘notha level now.”
Now, in his sit-down with ABC’s Davis, West admits that 2020 wasn’t the way. “That time wasn’t in God’s time,” he said.
The rapper’s Christian faith remains a guiding influence on his choices, political or otherwise.
“When you remove the love and fear of God, you open up the love and fear of everything else,” he said. “And it’s easier to have sheep when people don’t have God. It’s easier to control the people if people are not controlled by God. Because then they can be controlled by how many likes they have or whatever’s happening on their TikTok or how much money or the perception that people have,” he said. “But we only have one audience here and that audience is God. And He’s watching us at all times,” Ye said. “He’s got my back.”
The full half-hour special, titled, “A Conversation with Ye: Linsey Davis Reporting,” airs Thursday evening and will later stream on Hulu. Watch the preview clip to the interview via “Good Morning America” right here.
