Kanye West at South Carolina campaign event July 19 2020
Kanye West at South Carolina campaign event July 19 2020REUTERS

Rapper Kanye West hit the campaign trail Sunday, addressing supporters at a rally in North Charleston, South Carolina.

The 43-year-old rapper, who had previously expressed support for President Donald Trump, said earlier this month that he no longer backs the president and announced plans to run for the White House.

Despite initial reports that he had dropped out of the race after missing the registration deadlines in multiple states, West is continuing his presidential bid, hoping to win as a write-in candidate in those states where he missed the deadline for appearing on the ballot.

At his North Charleston event Sunday, West touched on a wide range of issues, from abortion and welfare to the pharmaceutical industry, gun ownership, and tax policy.

Among other things, West advocated a return to agrarianism and the undoing of the industrial revolution.

"When I talk to the billionaires, another white billionaire to be specific. When we moved to the city it was because of the industrial revolution. The industrial revolution is over with and now it is time to move back again. If you have agriculture as your business, you get tax breaks."

"Telsa, the original Tesla, said the Earth is a giant generator. God has given us freedom. You can feed your family from the Earth, Wind, Water, and Fire."

"But the education and the schools... Have you ever had a textbook tell you you can buy 500 acres for $100,000 in middle America and build a farm and feed your family. Has there ever been a class on that? Would you agree there is a reason there's never been a class like that?"

West drew jeers from the crowd when he criticized Harriet Tubman, an abolitionist and former slave who helped dozens of slaves escape the South to freedom in the North.

Denying Tubman helped free slaves, West claimed she “just had them go work for other white people.”

She “didn’t free the slaves.”

Later in the event, West decried abortion, saying that his father had pressured his mother to have him aborted, adding that his daughter had almost been aborted as well.

“My mom saved my life. My dad wanted to abort me.”

“There would have been no Kanye West because my dad was too busy.”

But when asked whether he supported banning abortion, West said the practice should remain legal, instead favoring massive financial incentives to women who carry their children to term.

West suggested women should receive a million dollars for each child, saying the plan could be implemented globally, suggesting that Israel could fund the program in Africa.

“Everybody that has a baby gets a million dollars, or something in that range.”

“We will fund it with other countries,” West added. “America with other continents. There are Israeli continents that do not believe in this. There are African continents that do not believe in this.”

“Israel in Africa - that would fund a concept like this.”

Turning to the Second Amendment, West said gun ownership rights were important in preventing Americans from being “enslaved” by China and other foreign countries, and touted armed Israeli women as an example of widespread gun use.

“Shooting guns are fun,” West said. “Israeli women know how to fire a firearm, they are trained how to do it.”