With an American flag as a backdrop, Kanye West took the stage in North Charleston wearing body armor.
He used no mic — the standard tool of the trade for rappers — signaling to the young crowd that he was there for a conversation. To an extent.
West attracted hundreds Sunday afternoon to the Exquis Event Center as he makes an 11th-hour push to get 10,000 signatures of state voters to appear on South Carolina's ballot for president.
The audience cheered the star and raised their phones to video and photograph him as he appeared on stage for the campaign's first rally in the nation.
West bounced from topic to topic — how social media brainwashes people, the dangers of addiction to opioids, his anger against the lack of diversity on corporate boards. He said he’d walk away from Adidas and other companies if they didn’t improve.
He took on Harriet Tubman, saying the abolitionist “never actually freed the slaves, she just had the slaves go work for other white people.” West said he doesn’t like the Black iconography white people tell African Americans to look up to.
Prompted by a call from the audience, he talked about his anti-abortion policy. West cried when talking about about his father wanting to abort him.
“We love you Kanye,” the audience shouted.
A few audience members were agitated and heckled him over the stance. Some called out, “What’s your point?”
He stipulated that he wouldn’t make abortion illegal but wanted the option of “maximum increase,” which he said would mean that a woman having a baby would be given “a million dollars or something like that” based on income.
From the beginning of his profanity-laced comments (he is prone to dropping F-bombs), West asked the audience to raise their hand silently if they wanted to come up on stage to raise an issue.
People record on their phones as Kanye West makes his first presidential campaign appearance at Exquis Event Center in North Charleston on Sunday, July 19, 2020. Lauren Petracca/Staff
After his abortion talk, one stood with him and said she recently had an abortion and disagreed with his stance. He commended her.
Throughout his rally, West spent time bringing others up to the stage to listen to their ideas for change or issues that affected them. He quieted the audience when it became hard to hear, saying he’d walk out if they didn’t listen.
"We need absolute silence, we need absolute order," West said. If he walked out, the campaign would be over, he said.
"If I'm over right now, the country is over right now," he said.
At some points, he became a little more hostile with the audience or people onstage if he felt they weren’t listening to him.
One heckler was escorted out. West accused a few in the audience of trying to “(expletive) up his rally” like TMZ.
Anna Shirley of Isle of Palms signs a petition to get Kanye West on the ballot in South Carolina as he makes his first presidential campaign appearance at Exquis Event Center in North Charleston on Sunday, July 19, 2020. Lauren Petracca/Staff
Recruiting SC voters
The crowd at the Ashley Phosphate Road event hall was youthful, many seeming ready for a concert rather than a presidential campaign event.
While they waited to be let inside, a few people encouraged them to sign the petition to get West on the ballot. Most did, passing the clipboard around.
Before they entered, attendees had their temperatures checked and were required to sign a waiver absolving West of any responsibility for contracting COVID-19. Attendees were given masks.
West's campaign started holding voter petition drives in area locations on Saturday and tweeted the petition information to his nearly 30 million Twitter followers.
Several spots named by the campaign didn’t see much action Sunday afternoon.
One on Rivers Avenue, the TIA Banquet Hall and Event Center, was locked up, trash littering the steps to the door.
At Blue Note Bistro, a bar on Dorchester Road, one table held a clipboard for signatures. By 3 p.m, no one had come in to sign for the two hours it had been available, an employee said. They’d gotten a call the day before asking if they could have a station, and a colorful chalkboard sign advertised it outside.
In another business on the busy road, Inspired by Annette Events employees said there was no petition there and to check elsewhere.
A third location on Dorchester, Scott’s Grand Banquet Hall, said they saw the most signatures of any station in the area Saturday — around 80, according to an employee. She said a radio station had contacted them about being a site.
Kanye West makes his first presidential campaign appearance while wearing body armor at Exquis Event Center in North Charleston on Sunday, July 19, 2020. Lauren Petracca/Staff
Melanie Williams drove her 15-year-old son nearly two hours from Bluffton to see West.
He’d seen the rally mentioned on Twitter and wanted to come since he’s interested in politics. “We wondered if it was for real,” Williams said.
She said her son hates the two-party system and is eager for change. She’s more cynical, and thinks the only effect of West’s campaign will likely be to take away votes from the Democratic nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden.
Daniel and Kaya Clavier decided to come just to see what West’s campaign was about.
“And it’s Kanye, so I kind of just want to see him,” Daniel said.
They’d heard about the event through friends’ Snapchats. They haven’t looked into West’s policies yet.
“It looks like a concert,” Daniel said.
One group was on vacation in the area and decided to stop by the rally, which they saw on Facebook.
Would they vote for West for president? “Possibly,” two in the group said.
“I’m on the fence,” said Lindsay Ramsburg. She likes that he’s supported Republican President Donald Trump in the past.
Photos: Kanye West makes first presidential campaign stop in North Charleston
Kanye West makes his first presidential campaign appearance while wearing body armor at Exquis Event Center in North Charleston on Sunday, July 19, 2020. Lauren Petracca/Staff
Kanye West makes his first presidential campaign appearance while wearing body armor at Exquis Event Center in North Charleston on Sunday, July 19, 2020. Lauren Petracca/Staff
A Monday deadline
West is trying to get into the presidential race just 3½ months before Election Day.
The campaign must get 10,000 valid signatures of active S.C. registered voters by noon Monday to be included on the November ballot.
He announced his bid for the White House over the Fourth of July, tweeting, "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 filed paperwork last week with the Federal Election Commission to enter the 2020 presidential race. The filing lists BDY, shorthand for birthday, for his party affiliation.
He is already on the ballot in one state, Oklahoma, where he needed just to pay a $35,000 fee.
West was a supporter of Trump until last month. The rapper told Forbes he was not happy to hear reports about the president retreating to a bunker during protests that broke out after the death of George Floyd while in custody of Minneapolis police.
Gibbs Knotts, a politics professor at the College of Charleston, said it’s the first rally he’s seen where a candidate wore a bulletproof vest and broke into tears.
A lot of people run for president, he said, but “West has universal near name recognition. He could have an impact on race in close states,” Knotts said.
Getting on the ballot by the deadline could be a “tall order,” he said.
West’s candidacy could hurt Biden’s campaign by drawing away votes, Knotts said. Some young voters may be interested in his campaign.
He could also be trying to get publicity, Knotts said, though like other third-party candidates, West's campaign gives him the chance to influence platforms of major candidates.
West insists his bid for the White House is not a stunt to promote music sales.
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