The Real Reason Kanye West Was Selected As A Vice Presidential Candidate

Kanye West regularly appears in the news for different reasons. His music, and the comments he made back when he first made a name for himself made waves — remember "George Bush doesn't care about Black people" during a Hurricane Katrina telethon in 2005? Then there's his marriage to Kim Kardashian and all the drama that comes along with that. Most recently, he's made headlines because of his bipolar diagnosis, and his claims that his wife and his mother-in-law Kris Jenner were trying to get him confined to a medical institution against his will (via The Atlantic). And don't forget: Earlier this year Ye announced his candidacy for president to plenty of raised eyebrows.

No surprise, West is making the news again. This time TMZ reports the former rapper will be running not as president, but as a vice presidential contender, next to a presidential candidate named Rocky De La Fuente. Both will be running as candidates of the American Independent Party, and their plan is to spoil the ballot for Democratic contenders Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. 

The Atlantic points out that West appears to attract people who are looking for him to trigger some kind of chaos during election day in November. He's already met with Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, and one of West's campaigners has been heard saying: "You want to help Trump? ... We're trying to take votes away from creepy Uncle Joe."

It's easy to say that West and de la Fuente, who TMZ says the owner of De La Fuente car dealerships, are literally just ballot spoilers who shouldn't take away too much from the national tally. But at the same time, as The Atlantic reported back in August, Kanye West was polling at 2 percent nationally — and while that doesn't mean he's got a real shot at winning anything, he and de la Fuente have a shot at upsetting the results in a very tight race. Research scientist Steffen Weiss, told The New York Times via email: "Winning the presidency can come down to a razor-thin margin in a single or handful of states. Any independent candidate on the ballot in a battleground state, Mr. West included, could be consequential in an otherwise close race."