Obama Jokes About Kanye West's Presidential ambition at San Francisco Fund-Raiser---see his advice

President Obama offered a new candidate for House speaker on Saturday after the fight for the post devolved into a chaotic scramble this week on Capitol Hill. Mr. Obama’s candidate? The rap star Kanye West. “You may have heard that Kanye is thinking about running for speaker of the House,” Mr. Obama said to laughter at a morning fund-raising event for the Democratic National Committee at the Warfield Theater here. “It couldn’t get any stranger.” Mr. West was scheduled to entertain the audience after Mr. Obama’s speech before 1,300 supporters contributing from $250 to $10,000 each. The Golden State Warriors also made an appearance with their NBA championship trophy. “To see everyone supporting our president and the future of our country is definitely a huge thing,” said Stephen Curry, the star guard of the Warriors and the M.V.P. of the N.B.A. Though Mr. Obama joked about Mr. West, the two have traded barbs for years. The rapper performed at one of Mr. Obama’s inaugural balls in 2009, but after Mr. West famously seized the microphone from singer Taylor Swift during the MTV Video Music Awards later that year, Mr. Obama disparaged Mr. West in unscripted comments prior to an interview with CNBC’s John Harwood. Mr. West has said repeatedly that Mr. Obama calls him at home, a claim Mr. Obama responded to by telling Jimmy Kimmel, the late-night television host, “I don’t think I’ve got his home number.” In August at the MTV VMA ceremony, Mr. West said that he would run for president in 2020, a plan Mr. Obama addressed on Saturday. “But in case he’s serious about this whole POTUS thing, or as he calls it, ‘Peezy,’” Mr. Obama said, referring to an acronym for President of the United States, “I do have advice for him.” His first piece of advice was that Mr. West would have to “deal with some guys who are strange characters who act like they’re on a reality TV show.” “Second — this is a second important tip — saying you have a beautiful, dark, twisted fantasy, that’s what’s known as off-message,” Mr. Obama said, laughing, referring to an album by Mr. West. “You can’t say things like that. A lot of people have lost their congressional seats saying stuff like this.” “Number three,” Mr. Obama said, as the laughter built in this wildly liberal enclave, “do you really believe this country is going to elect as president of the United States a black guy from the South Side of Chicago with a funny name that nobody can pronounce?” Sharing is Caring share this post