Kanye West punted when asked in an interview with Forbes on Friday if the goal of his last-minute presidential campaign was to siphon votes from presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.
The acclaimed rapper told the publication that he was “walking … to win” the presidency, but when it was pointed out that he wouldn’t be on the ballot in enough states to reach the 270 electoral votes needed to clinch the White House, West answered “I’m not going to argue with you. Jesus is King.”
When the Forbes interviewer also pointed out that West’s campaign could damage Biden, he said “I’m not denying it.”
West, 43, has already missed the filing deadline is a slew of states including South Carolina, North Carolina, New Mexico, Texas, Michigan, Florida and Indiana.
He first announced his intention to run for president in a tweet on July 4. In a subsequent interview that was also with Forbes, West — a once staunch supporter of President Trump — said he was “taking the red hat off,” referencing the president’s signature “Make America Great Again” hat that West has publicly worn in the past.
Earlier on Friday, House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) said there wasn’t “any question” that West was trying to take votes away from Biden.
“We saw what was going on in Wisconsin where he was getting help getting on the ballot. But African Americans, most especially, know what this campaign is all about,” Clyburn told MSNBC’s Andrew Mitchell.
Several of the political operatives that have been aiding West in his efforts to appear on state ballots have ties to Republican politics, leading some observers to conclude they are actually seeking to assist Trump.
West has been fighting to get on the ballot in key battleground states such as Wisconsin and Ohio, both of which Trump won in 2016. Wisconsin — like several of the states that Trump was able to flip from blue to red — was tightly contested, with the president beating former secretary of State Hillary Clinton by less that 30,000 votes.