--- title: Kanye West on Run for President: I Have ‘View on Humanity’ description: Kanye West wants to run for President — not because he has a particular political ideology to push, but because he has a “view on humanity." canonical: https://time.com/4433971/kanye-west-president-view-humanity/ author: Melissa Chan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-08-01T20:12:45.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T09:58:27.126Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Kanye West on Running for President: ‘I Just Have a View on Humanity’ og:description: He first announced his 2020 intentions during last fall’s MTV Video Music Awards og:url: https://time.com/4433971/kanye-west-president-view-humanity/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaa3c5df05c1cdc71/6988a0afcf40a825dec444d8/kanye-west-president.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 2016 Hot 97 Summer Jam og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Kanye West on Running for President: ‘I Just Have a View on Humanity’ twitter:description: He first announced his 2020 intentions during last fall’s MTV Video Music Awards twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaa3c5df05c1cdc71/6988a0afcf40a825dec444d8/kanye-west-president.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Kanye West on Running for President: ‘I Just Have a View on Humanity’  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Aug 1, 2016 8:12 PM UTC  Kanye West performs at Hot 97's Summer Jam 2016 at MetLife Stadium on June 5, 2016 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Kanye West performs at Hot 97's Summer Jam 2016 at MetLife Stadium on June 5, 2016 in East Rutherford, New Jersey.Johnny Nunez-WireImage  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Aug 1, 2016 8:12 PM UTC Kanye West [wants to run for President](http://time.com/4048824/kanye-west-running-for-president/)—not because he has a particular political ideology to push, but because he has a “view on humanity,” he said Monday. The _Famous_ rapper, who first announced his plans to seek the Oval Office in 2020 during last fall’s MTV Video Music Awards, discussed his continued desire to become the leader of the free world in a new interview with [BBC Radio 1](http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-36939619). “When I talk about the idea of being president, I’m not saying I have any political views,” West said. “I just have a view on humanity, on people, on the truth.” “We are numb. We’re numb to 500 kids getting killed in Chicago a year. We’re numb to the fact that it was seven police shootings in the beginning of July,” he added. “If there is anything that I can do with my time and my day, to somehow make a difference while I’m alive, I’m going to try to do it.” Shortly after West’s declaration last year, his reality TV star wife Kim Kardashian West told talk show host Ellen DeGeneres that her husband was “[serious](http://time.com/4055682/ellen-degeneres-kim-kardashian-kanye-west-president/)” about the future campaign. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4433971/kanye-west-president-view-humanity/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4433971/kanye-west-president-view-humanity/"},"headline":"Kanye West on Running for President: ‘I Just Have a View on Humanity’","datePublished":"2016-08-01T20:12:45.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T09:58:27.126Z","description":"\"I'm not saying I have any political views\"","url":"https://time.com/4433971/kanye-west-president-view-humanity/","keywords":["celebrities"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaa3c5df05c1cdc71/6988a0afcf40a825dec444d8/kanye-west-president.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaa3c5df05c1cdc71/6988a0afcf40a825dec444d8/kanye-west-president.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"2016 Hot 97 Summer Jam","caption":"Kanye West performs at Hot 97's Summer Jam 2016 at MetLife Stadium on June 5, 2016 in East Rutherford, New Jersey.","creditText":"Johnny Nunez-WireImage","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/celebrities/","name":"celebrities"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4433971/kanye-west-president-view-humanity/","name":"Kanye West on Running for President: ‘I Just Have a View on Humanity’"}}]}] ```