Rapper Kanye West is (maybe, probably, who the hell knows) running for the highest office in the land in four years time. In the months since West made his surprise announcement on-stage at last year’s VMAs, there have been multiple attempts to set up pro-Kanye super PACs. For instance, Ready for Kanye, launched by a Republican Baltimore native, released a couple of web ads.
Now, Colin Mackintosh—a 20-year-old sophomore studying real estate at DePaul University—wants in on the fun. And he wants to do it right.
“If Donald Trump can fear-monger his way to the Republican frontrunner, I don’t see why Kanye—who is far more levelheaded—can’t gain substantial ground with his extensive fan base,” Mackintosh told The Daily Beast.
“After reviewing searches under the FEC campaign and committee filings, I found out that one or two people had already attempted to file a Kanye West super PAC but—if memory serves—they filed incorrectly, forgot their cover letter, and had no website,” he continued. “I figured if someone was going to start a Kanye West super PAC, they should at least do it properly.
Mackintosh, who filed with the FEC on Thursday, is the college kid founder of Yeezus Rising PAC. You can donate via its website using cash or Bitcoin. He claims he received a grand total of five donations in the hour since the site went live. (All of the donors have so far contributed $20 or less.)
“All I’m hoping now is that the real Kanye West doesn’t actually file for president yet because then that would bar my organization and his campaign staff from coordinating—similar to the tactic that Jeb Bush used last year,” Mackintosh said. (It is illegal for super PACs and campaigns to coordinate. But if the hypothetical Kanye 2020 campaign isn’t officially launched, then, yes, the super PAC could potentially talk strategy and consult.)
West’s publicist did not respond to The Daily Beast’s request for comment on the new pro-Kanye political action committee.
Mackintosh made Yeezus Rising an affiliated committee with his original 527 group that he founded his freshman year. He wanted to create a super PAC that “would represent the political views of a demographic that isn’t as financially equipped as the Koch Brothers, NRA, or Priorities USA.”
He seems to have found that unifying cause in #Kanye2020.
“Kanye seems to keep an open mind and understands that just because someone is different than you, doesn’t mean you have to bar them from the country or deport them,” Mackintosh said, referring to Trump’s controversial Muslim ban proposal. “It doesn’t take a degree from Wharton to understand how to think with an open mind.”
If West ends up launching a presidential run in 2019, he will likely run as a Democrat or a left-leaning independent. The hip-hop artist was once tight with President Obama (although he has more recently felt “used” by his former pal), and he and his wife, Kim Kardashian, have been allies of the Democratic National Committee, Hillary Clinton, and other liberal politicians. But that doesn’t mean he won’t make time to openly praise a Republican candidates.
“When I run for president, I’d prefer not to run against someone,” West told Vanity Fair last year. “I would be like ‘I want to work with you.’ As soon as I heard [Ben] Carson speak, I tried for three weeks to get on the phone with him. I was like this is the most brilliant guy. And I think all the people running right now have something that each of the others needs. But the idea of this separation and this gladiator battle takes away from the main focus that the world needs help and the world needs all the people in a position of power or influence to come together.”
#Yeezus2020.