Kanye West Allegedly Backs Out of Presidential Race, Source Reveals

Kanye West is allegedly backing out of the presidential race less than two weeks after he expressed his intention to run, a report said.

On July 4, the rapper, 43, set the internet ablaze after tweeting that he will run for president, saying, “We must now realize the promise of America by trusting God, unifying our vision and building our future. I am running for president of the United States.” However, an election strategist who had been hired to help get West's name on Florida and South Carolina ballots told New York Magazine's Intelligencer that the husband of Kim Kardashian is bowing out of the race.

“He’s out,” Steve Kramer, who was described as a “get-out-the-vote specialist” and whose firm “helps candidates get on the ballot,” told Intelligencer writer Ben Jacobs on Thursday.

When asked why West is canceling his run, Kramer replied, “I’ll let you know what I know once I get all our stuff canceled. We had over 180 people out there today.”

West has not yet publicly commented on whether his presidential run is continuing.

On the same day, however, West shared a clip on Twitter of himself from the county clerk’s office in Cody, Wyoming, registering to vote for the first time. “I thank God and I am so humbled at the opportunity to serve. Vote,” the message displayed on the video read.

Campaign professionals told the outlet earlier that West had already begun the process of having his name included on ballots in Florida and other states for the Nov. 3 presidential election. On July 8, a source who was tapped to work for the rapper’s presidential campaign told Intelligencer about the progress that had been made.

The source, who was described as an experienced "political operative," was reportedly asked to head to Florida to collect the signatures needed to have West’s name on the ballot by the July 15 deadline. West required 132,781 signatures in this state to qualify. The insider was allegedly paid $5,000 for the week-long gig.

Prior to confirming that the rapper was bowing out, Kramer told Intelligencer that he thought West’s camp was already “working over weekend there, formalizing the FEC and other things that they’ve got to do when you have a lot of corporate lawyers involved.”

Kramer claimed that they received “overwhelming support” for the rapper’s name to make it on the ballot when West’s team gathered signatures. The strategist also said that the group consisted of paid and volunteer workers.

Kramer touched on the difficulties of running for president when the outlet connected with him on Thursday evening.

“Everyone has their personal decision about why they make decisions. Running for president has to be one of the hardest things for someone to actually contemplate at that level,” the strategist said.

“Any candidate running for president for the first time goes through these hiccups,” he added.