Kanye West Announces 2020 Presidential Run At VMAs

Well, Kanye West just completely changed how you end an acceptance speech at the VMAs. "Yes, as you probably could have guessed by this moment I have decided in 2020 to run for president," West said at the end of his acceptance speech for the Video Vanguard award. (Earlier in his speech he also said, he's "not a politician, bro.") West's rambling remarks began with a reflection on his infamous VMAs moment involving Taylor Swift — who presented him with his Video Vanguard award — and expressed his thoughts about defending artists and being part of the millennial generation. During his speech West also admitted that he was not completely sober. "Y’all might be thinking right now, 'I wonder, did he smoke something before he came here?'" he said. "The answer is, yes, I rolled up a little something." On the subject of his interruption of Swift way back in 2009, West said he's definitely thought about that moment, wondering if he would have done anything differently. "If I had had a daughter at that time would I have went on stage and grabbed the mic from someone else's?" he said. Even as he accepted an award from MTV, West said that he doesn't "understand awards shows," calling out the VMAs for teasing that Swift was going to give him his award to get ratings, and for deeming artists losers. On the subject of standing up for art he believes in, West said: "I will die for the art, for what I believe in, and the art ain’t always polite." As he moved towards his presidential announcement, West also discussed this generation: "We the millennials, bro. This is a new mentality. We not going to control our kids with brands. We not going to teach low self esteem and hate to our kids. We gonna teach our kids that they can be something. We going to teach our kids that they can stand up for themselves, we going to teach our kids to believe in themselves." There you go, that's Kanye's stump speech. Read the full transcript over at Billboard.