PIERS MORGAN: Just when you thought 2020 couldn't get worse, along comes another unstable, race-baiting billionaire narcissist to turn the election into a farce that could save Trump. For the love of God and America, Kanye – don't do it

It was hard to imagine how 2020 could deteriorate any further in America.
The world's greatest superpower has been brought to its knees by a pandemic that's infected nearly three million people and killed 132,000, the worst recession in nearly a century that's cost tens of millions of jobs, the murder of a black man at the brutal knee of a racist cop that triggered mass protests dogged by violence and looting, and a vicious culture war erupting over much of the nation's history.
It's felt recently like the whole country has gone into some kind of anaphylactic shock and nobody is quite sure how it will emerge.
Kanye West and Donald Trump shake hands during a meeting at the White House in 2018. West announced on July 4 he'd run for president
Kanye West and Donald Trump shake hands during a meeting at the White House in 2018. West announced on July 4 he'd run for president  
Kanye West appeared to have the full support of his wife Kim Kardashian who tweeted a picture of an American flag in response to his announcement
Kanye West appeared to have the full support of his wife Kim Kardashian who tweeted a picture of an American flag in response to his announcement 
In announcing his run, Kanye West tweeted to his 29 million followers: '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! #2020VISION'
In announcing his run, Kanye West tweeted to his 29 million followers: '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! #2020VISION'
And to compound the unsettling mayhem, there is an election in just four months that is developing into a battle for very soul of the United States and threatens to rip the nation even further apart.
So, like I said, it was almost impossible to think of anything that could possibly make the situation even more negative than it is right now.
Then Kanye West stepped forward to metaphorically cry 'HOLD MY BEER, 2020!' and announce he is running for president.
And I immediately realised I was wrong: things could get worse, a lot worse.
'We must now realize the promise of America by trusting God,' the rapper announced to his 29 million followers on Twitter, 'unifying our vision and building our future. I am running for president of the United States! #2020VISION'
I stared at this entreaty for several long seconds as my heart sank like a 10-ton rock to the bottom of a choppy ocean.
Not now, Kanye, I thought. NOT BLOODY NOW.
Within minutes, he was endorsed by his tech tycoon friend Elon Musk who gushed to his own 36 million Twitter followers: 'You have my full support.'
And by his wife, Kim Kardashian, who retweeted his declaration to her 65 million followers with an emoji of the United States flag.
So, by the end of his first day of campaigning, and without spending a single dime, Kanye already had his decision promoted positively to 130 million people.
That's why everyone needs to stop laughing and take this development very seriously.
Kanye's wife, Kim Kardashian, retweeted his declaration to her 65 million followers with an emoji of the United States flag
Kanye's wife, Kim Kardashian, retweeted his declaration to her 65 million followers with an emoji of the United States flag
Within minutes, Kanye West was endorsed by his tech tycoon friend Elon Musk who gushed to his own 36 million Twitter followers: 'You have my full support.'
Within minutes, Kanye West was endorsed by his tech tycoon friend Elon Musk who gushed to his own 36 million Twitter followers: 'You have my full support.'
Days before Kanye West announced he'd run for president, he tweeted a photo of himself with Elon Musk
Days before Kanye West announced he'd run for president, he tweeted a photo of himself with Elon Musk
Donald Trump has already shown how a very rich person with zero political background, but a powerful social media platform, can snaffle the presidency away from even the most experienced candidate.
And the brutal downside of his unlikely success has been underlined in the past few months when Trump's woeful leadership has been cruelly exposed by two viruses – COVID-19 and racism.
What the double whammy of coronavirus and George Floyd proved is that wise, non-partisan leadership in a time of crisis is the single most important requirement for any occupant of the White House.
And by any rational non-partisan criteria, President Trump has been an abject failure in America's darkest hour since World War II.
When the country needed urgent decisive action as Covid struck, he pretended the virus was nothing to worry about.
When the country needed consoling as Covid wreaked its deadly havoc, he picked senseless abusive fights with the Democrats and the media, spewed wild medical theories that did more harm than good, showed zero empathy to victims or their families, and made the pandemic all about him.
When the country needed racial healing, he poured 'when the looting starts the shooting starts' fuel onto the fires of division.
The result of all this woeful incompetence and incendiary behavior is that America is in utter turmoil.
And frankly, the very last thing it needs is another ranting, deluded, impulsive, narcissistic, completely unqualified billionaire celebrity to ride to the rescue.
Kanye West is a great musician, and in many ways a fascinating character.
Donald Trump has already shown how a very rich person with zero political background, but a powerful social media platform, can steal the presidency away from even the most experienced candidate
Donald Trump has already shown how a very rich person with zero political background, but a powerful social media platform, can steal the presidency away from even the most experienced candidateBut by his own admission, he's a mentally unstable (he was hospitalised for a breakdown in 2016) shoot-from-the-hip ('Feeling is more important than thought.') egotist ('I'm the greatest artist of all time!) who has never run for office and who delights in playing the offensive contrarian.
Kanye declared now-convicted monster Bill Cosby 'INNOCENT!!' when he was accused of drugging and abusing dozens of women.
He said he loves the way far-right activist Candace Owens thinks – despite her being an Islamophobic climate change denier who recently attacked George Floyd as 'a horrible person' and said: 'the fact he's been made a martyr sickens me'.
And he made repulsive sexual slurs about Taylor Swift.
But it was his outrageous 'slavery was a choice' outburst in an interview with TMZ two years ago that would automatically disqualify anyone else from becoming president.
'When you hear about slavery for 400 years — for 400 years?' Kanye said. 'That sounds like a choice. You was there for 400 years and it's all of y'all?'
In the context of the George Floyd murder and protests – the biggest in American history – this is an astonishingly tone-deaf and inflammatory belief.
Kanye explained later that his rants come 'from the place of a bravery.'
But there's nothing courageous about saying other black people lacked the courage to escape slavery.
The world's greatest superpower has been brought to its knees by a pandemic that's infected nearly three million people and killed 132,000, the worst recession in nearly a century that's cost tens of millions of jobs. Pictured are mobile morgues in New York City which were used to store the bodies of those who died from coronavirus
The world's greatest superpower has been brought to its knees by a pandemic that's infected nearly three million people and killed 132,000, the worst recession in nearly a century that's cost tens of millions of jobs. Pictured are mobile morgues in New York City which were used to store the bodies of those who died from coronavirus 
The murder of George Floyd at the brutal knee of a racist cop that triggered mass protests dogged by violence and looting, and a vicious culture war erupting over much of the nation's history
The murder of George Floyd at the brutal knee of a racist cop that triggered mass protests dogged by violence and looting, and a vicious culture war erupting over much of the nation's history
It shows either a deep ignorance of what slaves endured to ensure they didn't escape, or it shows a glib heartless disregard for it purely designed to create headlines and sell records.
Both are repugnant excuses for a man of Kanye's supposed intelligence and historical knowledge.
Until now, none of this chaotic, emotionally charged, inconsistent and baiting rhetoric has mattered.
Kanye is perfectly entitled to his views, however ugly some of them have been.
But if he wants to be president, then his views matter very greatly.
And there is a very cynical aspect to his announcement which needs to be loudly pointed out: Kanye's almost certainly only doing this to help his flailing friend Donald Trump who according to all polls is incredibly unpopular with black voters.
If Kanye can persuade even a small percentage of them to vote for him – Kanye - and not Democrat nominee Joe Biden, then he could swing the election Trump's way, just as Ross Perot stopped George H.W. Bush being re-elected when he ran as an independent.
Think this can't happen again?
In 2015, a YouGov/Huffington Post poll showed 25 percent of black Americans would consider voting for Kanye if he ran for president.
That number dropped when he began publicly supporting Trump, but I suspect there would be still be many of his black fans who might do it rather than vote for two old white guys, especially if he gets further endorsements from high profile figures with massive followings.
This is one of the most important elections in US history.
America can't afford for it to be turned into an unedifying clown show where the result is decided by a smug, gobby, irrational, unpredictable billionaire star on a gigantic ego trip.
We've already got one of those running. 

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