Kanye West Adviser Claims Rapper Is ‘Out’ of 2020 Presidential Race

Kanye West attends the WSJ Magazine 2019 Innovator Awards at the Museum of Modern Art in New York on Nov. 6, 2019. Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

An adviser to rapper Kanye West, who announced he was running for president in 2020 earlier this month, said that he will no longer run.

“He’s out,” adviser Steve Kramer told New York Magazine’s The Intelligencer on July 14. West hasn’t confirmed the news publicly. “I’ll let you know what I know once I get all our stuff canceled. We had over 180 people out there today,” Kramer added, saying that he was hired to help the rapper get on ballots by gathering signatures in several states.

“We had overwhelming support to get him on the ballot,” he said of attempts to get West on ballots in Florida and South Carolina.

“I have nothing good or bad to say about Kanye. Everyone has their personal decision about why they make decisions. Running for president has to be one of the hardest things for someone to actually contemplate at that level,” Kramer said.

On July 4, West said he was running for the nation’s highest office, which was publicly supported by Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk on Twitter.

“We must now realize the promise of America by trusting God, unifying our vision and building our future. I am running for president of the United States!” West wrote.

However, the deadline for him to file with the Federal Election Commission already passed in several states.

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

“Like anything I’ve ever done in my life,” West later told Forbes, “I’m doing to win.”

In the interview, West said he no longer supports President Donald Trump and added that former Vice President Joe Biden isn’t “special,” adding: “And Joe Biden? Like come on man, please. You know? Obama’s special. Trump’s special. We say Kanye West is special. America needs special people that lead. Bill Clinton? Special. Joe Biden’s not special.”

West said he is pro-life, pro-prayer in schools, and anti-death penalty, adding that he will run as an independent. He mentioned in the interview that it may be called the “Birthday Party.”

“'I was threatened as a black man into the Democratic Party. And that’s what the Democrats are doing, emotionally, to my people. Threatening them to the point where this white man can tell a black man if you don’t vote for me, you’re not black,” he added, possibly referring to comments that Biden had made on a radio show that African Americans “ain’t black” if they don’t vote for Democrats. Biden later apologized for the remark.

Trump brushed off West’s comments last week.

“He is always going to be for us, and his wife is going to be for us,” Trump said of West on Fox News.

Kramer’s comments came after consulting firm Redfield & Wilton Strategies found that West garnered only about 2 percent support in a poll of 2,000 registered voters.

A representative for West hasn’t yet responded for a comment.