Hip-hop artist turned businessman Aliaume Damala Badara Akon Thiam, better known as Akon, said in a recent interview with Newsweek that he’s thinking “very seriously” about running against President Donald Trump in 2020.
Akon, the 45-year-old singer known for his popular songs like “Smack That” and “Sexy Bitch,” worked with other famous artists like Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston before starting the Akon Lighting Africa project in 2014, which aims to provide electricity to countries in Africa. He also launched a cryptocurrency in Africa in June called Akoin.
“I’ve been thinking about running for 2020 very seriously,” Akon told Newsweek.
Akon said in another interview this past summer that he voted for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, but wanted to give Trump a chance. After a few months, Akon called Trump a “bully” and said that Trump “disappointed” him.
“But I didn’t want to just do it because I feel like I want to continue doing what I’m doing and hope that builds me enough momentum to say ‘you know what, if you run we’ll support you,'” the Grammy-winning singer told Newsweek.
When asked about living in “Trump’s America,” Akon said he feels “a lot more unsafe” as well as “unempowered.”
“After Obama you had blacks, whites, Hispanics, everybody working together. We really came a long way to get people to come together, and look at each other as humans and work towards a common cause,” Akon said. (RELATED: Beto 2020? As O’Rourke’s Senate Chances Fade And War Chest Grows, Speculation Swirls He Could Be Eyeing A Bigger Prize)
“And now it seems like everything that was done is being undone, with gangs and race groups reemerging. It’s just horrible.”
The “I Wanna Love You” singer wasn’t asked by Newsweek if he had any sort of platform or political plan for his potential presidential run, but was asked by Variety in June whether he’d run as a Republican or Democrat.
“That’s actually a good question. I never decided if I move forward which way I would go, party wise,” he said. “If there was a way I could go in without being attached to a party at all, that’s the direction I would prefer to go.”
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