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Obama gives Kanye West tips for his presidential run

Obama gives Kanye West tips for his presidential run

By ASSOCIATED PRESS

US President Barack Obama talks to the media after signing a citation awarding the Presidential Unit Citation to PHS CC members who participated in the Ebola containment efforts in West Africa in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, September 24, 2015. Photo: Reuters

San Francisco, October 11 If you’re going to run for president, Kanye West, you might as well listen to someone who’s been there and done that. “I do have some advice for him,” President Barack Obama said during a West Coast fundraiser featuring an appearance by the rapper. “Just some stuff that I’ve picked up on the way.” When West appeared on the MTV Video Music Awards last month, he announced that he would run for president in 2020. Obama’s Tip No 1 could have been aimed at reality TV star turned presidential candidate Donald Trump — and maybe a few others in the crowded Republican field. “First of all, you’ve got to spend a lot of time dealing with some strange characters who behave like they’re on a reality TV show,” Obama said. “So you’ve just to be cool with that.” Tip No 2 referenced West’s fifth studio album. “Saying that you have a ‘Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy’ — that’s what’s known as ‘off-message’ in politics,” Obama said. “You can’t say something like that. There are a lot of people who have lost their congressional seats saying things like that.” Tip No 3 hit the Chicago-raised West close to home. “Do you really think that this country is going to elect a black guy from the South Side of Chicago with a funny name to be president of the United States?” Obama asked. “That is crazy. That’s crazy!” Obama, aka POTUS, also joked that West has his own nickname for the person in the White House — Peezy (that’s someone who is really, really cool).