We should have known better. It’s our own fault, really. When you test the gods, you better not flinch. Well, we flinched. That can be the only explanation. When we all collectively looked up to the heavens, cursed 2020 and shouted from the top of our lungs, “Is that the best you’ve got?” we honestly believed we were doing the right thing. In hindsight (which is 20/20), we should have never tempted fate. It was just like that time we told anybody who would listen (and some people who wouldn’t) that we would choose literally anybody to be the president of the United States other than Donald Trump. We were shortsighted then and we are shortsighted now because the gods are laughing at us.
Kanye West has announced his bid for the U.S. presidency.
Now, a few key points. One, Kanye is a proud Trump-supporter and most people on Twitter are in agreement that this is nothing more than a publicity stunt designed to a) keep people talking about Kanye’s favorite subject…himself and b) to steal votes from Joe Biden, in order to “hand the win” over to Trump. The second point is that Kanye is a tremendous artist (in a train wreck, WTF is he gonna do/say/sing about next kind of way), but he is not a politician. He’s not even really a businessman, despite his shoe biz and plans for Wyoming.
So, no. Kanye is not going to be the president of the United States (though, to be fair, we said the same thing about four years ago in regards to a real estate mogul-turned-Apprentice who had no political experience either, and also we are currently living in the Twilight Zone, so who even knows anymore?). Regardless, this is little more than a publicity stunt or, to be more accurate, it’s yet another glimpse into the intense narcissism of President K. West. Luckily, science can at least help us explain him, even if we don’t altogether understand him. These are seven scientific signs that Kanye West is having a top-shelf narcissistic episode.
Cover Photo: The Washington Post (Getty Images)
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Kanye West Narcissism
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A Grandiose Sense of Self-Importance
Psychology Today states that "the hallmarks of narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) are grandiosity, a lack of empathy for other people, and a need for admiration. People with this condition are frequently described as arrogant, self-centered, manipulative, and demanding." Now, we would never say Kanye has a grandiose sense of self-importance but, we mean…
It’s pretty evident in everything he says/does/tweets/raps about that he thinks he’s God’s gift to, well, all of us. The fact that he thinks he can be president with no political experience, no political knowledge, and no campaign platforms is proof of this. If he honestly believes that he’s going to run for president, he thinks he’ll win simply because he’s Kanye.
Kanye probably believes with all of his heart that he could be president. But he also allegedly thinks he’s the second coming of Jesus, so…
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Exploitation of Others
He sells hoodies for $250 and shoes that look like Crocs’ ugly cousins for a cool hundo. If that’s not exploitation, we don’t know what is.
Plus, as an influential black man, he certainly picked an interesting time to announce his candidacy, what with all of the racial tension going on in the world right now. Some may even call his move “exploitative.” But we wouldn’t.
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Disregard For Other People
When Kanye was recording his Jesus is King album, he asked contributors to refrain from premarital sex during the production. The husband of Kim Kardashian actually asked people to do that.
This presidential bid is just further proof of his disregard of other people. Much like the sitting president, Kanye West doesn’t care about you. He doesn’t care about anybody besides himself. He doesn’t want to make the world better. He wants his face on the $1 bill.
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Earnestly Seeking Praise
When President Barack Obama called Kanye a “jackass,” that was the moment West decided he was going to buddy up to Donald Trump. It’s a vicious circle with Trump and West, as both are quick to praise each other…as long as they are being praised as well. Honestly, we wouldn’t be surprised if Trump dumped Mike Pence as his VP and instead brought on Ye for his (we hope to God it never happens) second term.
In Kanye’s mind, the top of the proverbial mountain is not the top of the Billboard charts; it’s being called Commander-in-Chief. This was the same reason Donald Trump wanted to be president. He just didn’t count on people hating him and making fun of him at every opportunity.
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Fear of Abandonment
At their core, narcissists are terrified of being abandoned. They do anything to avoid it, including pushing others away. Or, in the case of Kanye, pushing himself and his family away from everybody else. That’s why he moved to Wyoming. Nobody lives in Wyoming. Thus, there is nobody to abandon him.
This works out well for his presidential hopes because if the current administration has proven anything, it’s that Republicans will stick by a president, literally no matter what. The president could tell people to drink bleach and they would be like, “Yeah, why wouldn’t we do that? It’s genius.” If Kanye becomes president, he can rest assured that there will always be people to support him and who will never abandon him.
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Monopolizing Conversations
It started back in 2009, during the VMAs. Taylor Swift was getting ready to accept her award for Best Female Video when, all of a sudden, none other than Kanye West took the stage, and the microphone.
“I’ma let you finish,” he started, “but Beyonce had the best video of all time.”
So, there’s monopolizing a conversation like what your sleazy uncle does at Thanksgiving dinner when he continues to brag about his corvette and hot 25-year-old girlfriend. But then there’s Kanye-levels of monopolizing a conversation, which means literally interrupting an awards show because you feel like what you have to say is the most important thing in the world.
As president, Kanye would actually get to deliver State of the Union addresses (which he would no doubt do religiously, every week, for his entire presidency).
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Expectation to Be Recognized as Superior, Even Without Achievements That Warrant It
Kanye West is a talented musician. Kinda. We guess. Whatever. But the numbers don’t lie and Kanye has earned a lot of money from his music career. But a successful music career does not lend itself to a successful presidency. This is especially true if the presidential candidate in question has literally no experience in the political realm, other than being friends with the current president.
Kanye West is a lot of things, most of which we cannot write about for fear of defamation of character. But above all, West is a showman. He knows exactly what to say (and when to say it) to get people talking. And, really, that’s the biggest sign of a narcissist. They say and do things simply to get a reaction, whether positive or negative, consequences be damned. And if there is one thing the United States of America would never, ever¸do, it’s elect a sociopathic narcissist with no political experience.
