Obama Gives Kanye West Some Tips For His 2020 Presidential Run

Back in August Kanye West shocked the world during the MTV Video Music Awards when he announced a potential 2020 presidential run–admittedly after having “rolled up a little something” before coming onstage. It didn’t take long before “Kanye 4 Prez” merch was being sold on Etsy and Twitter was buzzing with excitement over a possible “Keeping up with the Kardashians” White House edition.

But if Kanye is in fact serious about a potential presidential bid, who better to give him advice than President Obama himself? During a speech at a Democratic National Committee fundraiser in San Francisco on Saturday Obama did just that, saying, “I do have advice for him. Just some stuff I picked up along the way.”

Watch Obama’s Advice For Kanye Below:

Here are the highlights:

Tip #1: You must deal with “strange characters”

“First of all, you’ve got to spend a lot of time dealing with some strange characters who behave like they’re on a reality TV show. So you’ve just to be cool with that,” said Obama clearly poking fun at the Kardashians.

Tip #2: Don’t go “off message”

“Saying you have a beautiful dark twisted fantasy–that’s what’s known as an ‘off message’ in politics,” said Obama in reference to Kanye’s fifth Studio album. He added, “You can’t say something like that. There are a lot of people who have lost their congressional seats saying things like that.”

Tip #3: Let’s be real

Obama finished with a little self-deprecating humor for his fellow Chicago native saying, “Do you really think that this country is going to elect a black guy from the south side of Chicago with a funny name to be president of the United States? That is crazy. That’s cray!”

It’s nice to see Obama lightening up a bit during his final year in office. If his speech writers keep this comedy up, fingers crossed for a post-presidency stand up tour.

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.