President Barack Obama offered rapper Kanye West some insider advice about running for president Saturday during a San Francisco, CA fundraiser.
West, 38, announced during a 13-minute lifetime award acceptance speech at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards he intends to run for president in 2020.
The rapper, who was admittedly under the influence of an unknown substance at the time of the announcement, has since confirmed the he will run in 2020.
Obama arrived in San Francisco late Friday night for a series of California fundraisers, and was greeted by California Gov. Jerry Brown and San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee at the airport, according to TheWrap.
Speaking before a large crowd at San Francisco’s The Warfield theater Saturday, Obama quipped Kanye is “thinking running for Speaker of the House,” before addressing the star’s presidential aspirations.
“In case Kanye is serious about this whole POTUS thing, or, as Kanye calls it, ‘Peezy,’ I do have advice for him,” he said.
“You’ve got to deal with strange characters who behave as if they are on a reality TV show, so you gotta be cool with that. Saying you have a beautiful dark twisted fantasy — that’s what’s known as off-message in politics,” Obama said of the rapper’s 2010 album “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.”
“You can’t say something like that. There are a lot of people who have lost their congressional seats saying things like that,” said Obama.
The president then asked, “Do you really think this country is going to elect a black guy from the south side of Chicago with a funny name to be president of the U.S.? That is crazy. That’s cray.”
Watch the video below:
President Obama traveled to Los Angeles after the event for three DNC fundraisers, including one at the home of Star Wars director J.J. Abrams, and another fundraiser where Jamie Foxx was scheduled to perform.
In a recent interview with Vanity Fair, Kanye West opened up about his presidential aspirations, saying, “I’m not a politician at all. I care about the truth and I just care about human beings. I just want everyone to win, that’s all I can say.”
West also praised GOP candidate Dr. Ben Carson as “brilliant.”
The rapper later spoke to Carson during a 30-minute telephone conversation, in which he reportedly rapped for the acclaimed neurosurgeon.
“He’s a very smart businessman. You guys ought to interview him sometime about business principles, you’ll be shocked about how much he knows,” Carson said of the conversation.
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