With the midterm elections right around the corner, politics seems to be the hot topic everyone is talking about. From political posts on social media by the famous to SNL skits of actors playing politicians, it’s becoming more and more common to see celebrities make their political views public to the world. A celebrity who recently made big news after furthering himself in the political world is Kanye West. Kanye visited the White House on October 11^th to see President Donald Trump and left with his face on almost every news source. West was called to the White House to discuss jobs for African Americans and the crime rate in Chicago. However, while at the White House, West went into a ten-minute rant touching on issues ranging from his possible presidency in the year 2024 to the idea of a futuristic hydrogen-powered plane made by Apple for the president.

Senior Jacob Le watched the clip of West in the Oval Office after listening to his friends talk about it during lunch. Le stated how different his personal views are from those of Kanye West: “I don’t agree with his views on wanting to abolish the 13^th Amendment. I think it’s important to include the amendment about slavery in our constitution, because it forces us to acknowledge our past and keeping it emphasizes equality for all, something very important in today’s day in age.”

Caleb Lind ’19, a dedicated Kanye fan and who stays updated on all of the Kanye West gossip, has fairly mixed feelings about the spontaneous speech. Lind agrees with both Kanye and Trump’s thought that change needs to be made in today’s world, especially considering the increasing crime rates in a city like Chicago, however Lind also has his reservations as to what Kanye should be speaking about to the public. “I think that he should just stick to making music,” said Lind.

Shortly after watching the rant that was posted online, Senior Mia Griff was confused as to why Kanye talked so in depth about his innovative iPlane 1 idea. Griff believes that Kanye “should be spending less worrying about how the president is flying around and instead about the more pressing issues in our country.”

Kanye’s rant at the White House has created controversy amongst many, stealing the attention of the media. The United States will just have to wait six more years to see if Kanye West in fact runs for the presidential election. Until then, we should not be surprised to see Kanye’s name pop up in the political realm in the near future.