Kanye West’s Presidential Campaign Reportedly Violated Fundraising Rules

Kanye West’s Presidential Campaign Reportedly Violated Fundraising Rules

It looks like Kanye West may be facing some legal trouble with the Federal Election Commission! The FEC has cited several violations in its report of the rapper’s 2020 Presidential Campaign including, accepting multiple donations from minors, possible contributions from foreign nationals and several fake names and addresses that trace to drop-shipping warehouses on both east and west coasts. In addition, experts say Kanye West may face an investigation for unlawful fundraising practices that pulled in nearly $100,000 in small donations this year.

One of Kanye’s fundraising strategies was to sell campaign merchandise on his website, including hats and hoodies. Reportedly, a number of teenagers bought these items, with the profits going towards his campaign. However, it’s unlawful to intentionally seek and take donations from people who are younger than 18 years old. Students reportedly made up more than 1,200 of the 3,161 donors to West’s presidential run, contributing $349,160  in total. One donor for Kanye’s campaign, 16-year-old, Ian Bloom reported that he spent $3,280 on Kanye merch in January but still has not received his order. Bloom said,

“I don’t know what’s happening there. I ordered like 20 hoodies off his campaign website, along with a lot of other people that I know. They said it would be three weeks, and after that I emailed the support team, and the email just wasn’t a thing.”

He provided a screenshot of an email that had bounced back from the campaign, showing that his email address had been blocked. Bloom also said he called his credit card company to dispute and cancel the charge, which is still under investigation.

Jordan Libowitz, communications director for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics said,

“In five-plus years of doing this I’ve never come across something like this.”

As previously reported,  Kanye West had a budget of $14.5 million to help fund his 2020 presidential campaign. Of that amount, $12.5 million reportedly came from his own pockets and a little more than $2 million was from outside contributions.

What are your thoughts on Kanye reportedly violating campaign rules? Let us know in the comments below!