Speaking at a Democratic fundraiser in San Francisco Saturday, President Obama gave Kanye West a bit of playful advice for his upcoming 2020 presidential bid, adding that it would be "cray" if West was indeed elected.
"A little bit later you're going to hear from a guy who I hear has been talking about launching a potential political career," Obama told the crowd of about 1,300 supporters who paid between $250 and $10,000 a person to attend the event headlined by West, reported ABC News.
West announced plans to run for president in 2020 during the MTV Video Music Awards in August, as HNGN previously reported.
"You may have heard that Kanye is thinking about running [for] speaker of the house. It couldn't get any stranger. In case Kanye is serious about this whole POTUS thing - or as he calls it, 'Peezy' [West's nickname is Yeezy] - I do have advice for him," Obama continued, according to CNN.
"First of all, you have to spend some time dealing with some strange characters who act like they're on a reality TV show. You gotta be cool with that," Obama said, a clear reference to West's wife Kim Kardashian, a staple on the reality TV show "Keeping Up With the Kardashians."
For the second tip, Obama recommended that West practice staying on message. "Saying you have a beautiful dark twisted fantasy" - which is the name of West's 2010 album - "that's what's known as off message in politics," Obama said. "People have lost congressional seats that way."
And third, "Do you really think this country's going to elect a black guy from the south side of Chicago with a funny name to be president of the U.S.? That's crazy. Cray," Obama joked, referring to the area where both Obama and West hail from.
Obama stopped short of endorsing West for office, which is not too surprising considering the president has previously called West a "jackass" twice. The first instance came in 2009 after West interrupted Taylor Swift's VMA acceptable speech, and the second in Obama's 2012 interview with the Atlantic.
