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The Democratic Party’s surprising reaction to Kanye West’s 2020 presidential run

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Entertainment Weekly
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August 31, 2015, 4:00 PM ET
2015 MTV Video Music Awards - Show
LOS ANGELES, CA - AUGUST 30: Kanye West speaks onstage during the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards held at Microsoft Theater on August 30, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Michael Tran/FilmMagic)Photograph by Michael Tran — FilmMagic/Getty Images

By Christian Holub, Entertainment Weekly

Perhaps the craziest thing in a night of crazy things at Sunday’s VMAs came at the end of Kanye West’s acceptance speech for the Video Vanguard Award. After repeatedly telling the audience to “listen to the kids” and coming to terms with the enduring legacy of his 2009 Taylor Swift interruption, West ended his speech by declaring, “As you probably could have guessed by this moment, I have decided, in 2020, to run for president.”

This declaration inspired a wide spectrum of Twitter reactions, but perhaps none were more surprising than the Democratic Party itself. The official account of The Democrats tweeted Monday morning that they approved of a possible West run.

https://twitter.com/TheDemocrats/status/638376415944159232

They then later used a West reaction shot GIF to mock Republican presidential candidate Scott Walker’s proposal to build a wall along the American/Canadian border.

Scott Walker said building a U.S.-Canada wall is a "legitimate" idea. http://t.co/BPunJbaZWU pic.twitter.com/wwSwgYQbsx

— The Democrats (@TheDemocrats) August 31, 2015

Whether or not West is seriously considering a presidential run, it seems he does have some institutional support.

This story was originally published on Entertainment Weekly.

Related stories:

•Kanye West says he’s running for president, admits he’s high in epic VMAs speech
•Celebrity reactions to Kanye’s VMAs speech
•Here’s how Jaden Smith reacted to Kanye’s VMAs acceptance speech

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