Kanye West claims he's running for President. Is he though?

Kanye West, renowned rapper, fashion designer, and full-time provocateur announced on July 4 that he's running for President this year. The 43-year-old announced his 2020 presidential bid Saturday night via Twitter in a vague and unconvincing fashion similar to his announcing one of his albums. 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 tweeted—a message seemingly supported his wife Kim Kardashian West who retweeted it with an emoji of the American flag.

While West's friend and fellow controversy magnet, Elon Musk, immediately tweeted his support for the "Closed On Sunday" singer, a number of others condemned the celeb for what's largely considered a publicity stunt. According to CNN, the timing of West's announcement seems to indicate that this was merely another one of his promotional antics as it comes just days after he teased a new song and announced a new album titled God's Country. So far, it doesn't appear as though West has actually taken any concrete steps towards running for office.

With the 2020 Presidential election just four months away, the father-of-four still needs to register with the Federal Election Commission, present a campaign platform, and collect enough signatures to get on the November ballot amid several other formalities. According to Forbes' Dani Di Placido, as of now, there is only one presidential candidate named Kanye West in the FEC database for the 2020 election year—a Green Party candidate named "Kanye Deez Nutz West." Make of that what you will.

Furthermore, as Yahoo! News's White House Correspondent Hunter Walker pointed out, it is already too late for West—running as an independent—to get on a ballot in nine states. These states include Texas, New York, and Illinois, which are three of the top six states in terms of electoral college votes. There are several other deadlines coming up in the next couple weeks, Walker tweeted. On the other hand, this is not the first time West has teased the idea of running for US president.

He first dropped the Kanye2020 dream in August 2015, while accepting MTV’s Video Vanguard Award where he concluded an 11-minute speech by saying "and yes, as you probably could have guessed by this moment, I have decided in 2020 to run for president." However, in January 2019, he tweeted "2024," seemingly delaying his plans. In the years since first hinting at his presidential bid, West has infamously tilted rightward, cozying up to Donald Trump, wearing a red MAGA hat, and suggesting that African American slavery was a choice—for which he later apologized.

Among those to express their opinions about West's presidential announcement were comedian and actress Tiffany Haddish, Paris Hilton, and Full House star Bob Saget, who made parodies of the rapper's tweet with similar announcements of their own. Haddish and Saget even went as far as to name their "running mates."

Meanwhile, the Academy Award-winning actress Octavia Spencer responded to West's announcement by tweeting: Too much foolishness today. #SitAllTheWayDown. She followed it up with another tweet that reads: It’s obvious that some people live in a bubble. It’s about time to burst it. #2020vision. Actor and Band of Ghosts lead singer, Eric Balfour, too was less than impressed with the West family's July 4 antics, responding to Kim's tweet with: Do you guys think this is all a joke? That potentially pulling votes away from the only nominee who can defeat Donald Trump is cute or funny? This is the height of privilege, ultimately it won't hurt you, you're wealthy enough to survive 4 more years of Trump! Come the f**k on!