Though Kanye West has absolutely no chance of winning the 2020 election, the "Birthday Party" candidate has dumped a fair amount of money into his presidential bid.
Journalist Ben Jacobs points to a newly filed Federal Election Commission report that reveals West personally spent $3 million on his campaign in September and raised only $2,782 during that month. Of the latter figure, $1,582 came from unitemized contributions of less than $200. The remaining $1,200 were from two itemized contributions.
In a subsequent tweet, Jacobs also pointed out that West had donated—not loaned—more than $2.1 million to his campaign in October; that's in addition to the $9.76 million he's already loaned. According to the FEC report, he's only received about $17,600 in contributions as of the Oct. 20 filing. The campaign has also reportedly added $540,000 to its debt.
West announced his 2020 presidential bid back in July and has made a number of long-shot attempts to secure a place on general election ballots. He's only qualified for ballot access in a dozen states that have a total of 84 electoral votes: Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, and Vermont. West addressed his decision to join the race during a July interview on BBC Radio 1.
"When I talk about the idea of being president, I’m not saying I have any political views, I don’t have views on politics, I just have a view on humanity, on people, on the truth," he said. "If there is anything that I can do with my time and my day, to somehow make a difference while I’m alive I’m going to try to do it."
West's campaign website lays out 10 policy proposals that include everything from reducing student loan debt to criminal justice reform to supporting faith-based groups to restoring prayer in the classroom. His campaign site also posted another ad this week featuring a handful of supporters who explain why they'll be voting for West this year.
VOTE KANYE pic.twitter.com/sXrotfOHE3
With Election Day exactly two weeks away, Donald Trump and Joe Biden will go head-to-head in their second and final debate this Thursday from the Curb Event Center in Nashville.
