Kanye West Says He'll Vote in 2020 Election ‘And We Know Who I’m Voting On’

Kanye West speaks on stage at the "Kanye West and Steven Smith in Conversation with Mark Wilson" in N.Y.C. on Nov. 7, 2019. Brad Barket/Getty Images for Fast Company

Rapper and designer Kanye West said that he intends to vote in the 2020 presidential election and that he believes people know who he will vote for.

“I will not be told who I’m gonna vote on because of my color,” West told magazine GQ in a recent interview for its May cover. “I’m definitely voting this time. And we know who I’m voting on.”

“Both my parents were freedom fighters, and they used to drink from fountains they were told they couldn’t drink from, and they used to sit in restaurants where they were told they couldn’t eat from,” he continued. “They didn’t fight for me to be told by white people which white person I can vote on.”

“I’m not going to be told by the people around me and the people that have their agenda that my career is going to be over. Because guess what: I’m still here! Jesus Is King was No. 1!” he said.

While the 42-year-old did not disclose the name of who he would vote for, West has been an open supporter of Republican President Donald Trump.

In late 2016, West said onstage during a concert in San Jose, California, that if he had voted, he would have voted for Trump.

West made waves in October 2018 when he revealed that he was bullied backstage for wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat for an appearance on NBC’s American comedy show “Saturday Night Live.”

The rapper, who has been vocal about his support for Trump on Twitter, has joked that liberals were probably stunned when he made his support public.

“For the greatest artist in human existence to put a red hat on was like God’s practical joke on all liberals. Like, ‘No! Not Kanye!'” West said in October 2019 while promoting his new album, “Jesus is King.” All 11 songs on the album claimed spots on Billboard’s Hot 100 in early November 2019.

West has had two highly publicized meetings with Trump—one at Trump Tower in Manhattan in December 2016 and another at the White House in October 2018.

President-elect Donald Trump and Kanye West pose for a picture in the lobby of Trump Tower in New York on Dec. 13, 2016. AP Photo/Seth Wenig

President Donald Trump greets rapper Kanye West during a meeting in the Oval office of the White House in Washington on Oct. 11, 2018. Screenshot/AP

Last month, West had told WSJ Magazine that he was not yet registered to vote and expressed at the interview that he did not like people making assumptions about him based on his race or social status while referencing his current fame and success, and support for the president.

“I’m a black guy with a red [MAGA] hat, can you imagine? ...It reminded me of how I felt as a black guy before I was famous, when I would walk in a restaurant and people would look at you like you were going to steal something. ‘This is your place, Ye, don’t talk about apparel. This is your place, Ye, you’re black, so you’re a Democrat,’” he told the publication.

Presumptive Democratic nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden, is expected to face Trump in the November election after Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) dropped out of the presidential race on April 8.

The self-described socialist said he is now endorsing Biden.

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