Approximately 1,000 students nationwide want rapper Kanye West, who now goes by “Ye,” to run for president in 2024, according to a Jan. 2 social media post from the youth organization “Students for Ye.”
Daniel Schmidt, a University of Chicago student and the chairman of “Students for Ye,” told the Daily Caller the group is a “grassroots” movement primarily composed of disaffected conservatives interested in supporting West for a 2024 presidential bid.
“Young people love Ye. His visionary leadership, from music to gospel worship, has energized the youth with unstoppable inspiration. If he runs for office, he will continue to inspire,” Schmidt said in a Tweet.
The group is not directly affiliated with West.
I am thrilled to announce I will be serving as the Chairman of Students For Ye!
Young people love Ye. His visionary leadership, from music to gospel worship, has energized the youth with unstoppable inspiration. If he runs for office, he will continue to inspire.#YE24 https://t.co/DJDUewzXvz
— Daniel Schmidt (@RealDSchmidt) January 2, 2023
West has drawn broad condemnation for a series of antisemitic statements, including a viral clip in which West said he sees “good things about Hitler.” (RELATED: ‘I Like Hitler’: Kanye West Appears On InfoWars)
“But this guy [Hitler] that invented highways and invented the very microphone that I use as a musician, you can’t say out loud that this person never did anything good,” West claimed on a Dec. 1 segment of InfoWars.
Schmidt insisted West’s comments were not antisemitic and that he spoke out of love for all human beings. Schmidt also dismissed criticism that West is undergoing a mental health crisis, saying the rapper is “totally a free thinker.”
One of the leaders in the “Students for Ye” group is Jewish, according to Schmidt.
Schmidt told the Daily Caller the typical member of “Students for Ye” was inspired by the “authenticity” of former President Donald Trump during his 2016 bid for office. Now, the students Schmidt speaks for believe Trump is catering to special interests groups and is too “calculated.”
“[He’s] not what we need in America,” Schmidt said. The college sophomore insisted the country needs a “fearless visionary” who is “Christ-focused.”
“The only person saying that is Ye,” Schmidt said.
“Students for Ye” bills itself as a “Christian movement” that prioritizes free speech, abortion abolition, peaceful foreign policy and the banning of pornography.
West announced his presidential bid in November and reportedly asked Trump to be his running mate. West ran for president in 2020, garnering 70,000 votes. West has yet to officially file paperwork to run for president.