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Everything you need to know about Kanye West’s chaotic first presidential rally

Over the weekend, Kanye West held the first campaign rally for his ‘Birthday Party’ presidential candidacy.

Taking place at the Exquis Event Centre in South Carolina, the rally was the first official event for his presidential campaign. And it was a wild ride.

kanye, politics, 2020, emotional

“I almost killed my daughter! I almost killed my daughter!” announces Kanye West during an anti-abortion rant at his first presidential campaign rally.

The event was only available to registered guests, and attendees were asked to practice social distancing, wear masks, and sign a COVID-19 liability release form upon entry. Kanye took to the stage wearing a security vest, with ‘2020’ shaved on the back of his head.

He began his speech telling the crowd to “be quiet” as he was not going to use a microphone, and anybody that was caught whispering would be escorted out immediately. True to his word, by the end of the campaign one attendee was asked to leave by security.

West discussed his opinion on a variety of topics including education, police brutality, and the brainwashing caused by social media, regularly welcoming audience members to appear on the stage to speak. Throughout the rally, West demanded “absolute silence and absolute order”, stating that he would walk out if people didn’t listen.

A call from the audience prompted him to discuss his anti-abortion policy which led to him screaming and crying.

“I almost killed my daughter! I almost killed my daughter!” He shouted through tears announcing that he and his wife, Kim Kardashian, at one point discussed not having their first child, North West. He also said “There would have been no Kanye West”, revealing his father also wanted to abort him. Audience members heckled him over his monologue, calling back “What’s your point?”

West continued to speak about abortion for some time,  and discussed his counterargument to the pro-choice slogan “My body, my choice”.

“Women love ‘My body, my choice,” began West as he painted a hypothetical scenario in which a separated couple had a child together that lived primarily with the mother: “She says, ‘My house, my choice. I’m gonna kill my child.'”  

He then clarified “abortion should always be legal” but proposed a plan of “maximum increase”, which he defined as “everybody that has a baby gets a million dollars or something.” 

Another notorious moment in his speech saw him make questionable comments about abolitionist Harriet Tubman, stating “Harriet Tubman never actually freed the slaves, she just had them work for other white people”:

West also proposed that marijuana “should be free”, after revealing: “I did smoke a bit last night.”

The sound of both boos and cheers followed West as he left the bizarre event that was his first presidential rally.