Kanye West Becomes First Rapper to Cover The New Yorker

By now, you should have figured out Kanye West is not running for President of the United States in 2020. After all, his much talked-about presidential bid was nothing but a spontaneous decision he made in less than 10 seconds after someone in the crowd during the 2015 MTV VMAs yelled, “Kanye for President.”

Meanwhile, the unexpected announcement continues to make waves even outside the borders of the music industry. As a matter of fact, West became the first rapper to appear on the cover of The New Yorker. Illustrator Barry Blitt painted a watercolor piece of the rapper celebrating his presidential victory over Donald Trump, holding up a “TRUMP DEFEATS KANYE” newspaper headline at a parade.

The caricature is a reference to a famous photo of Harry Truman holding up an incorrect banner headline on the front page of Chicago Tribune which read, “DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN.” It was actually Truman who famously won an upset victory over Thomas Dewey in the 1948 election after being considered the underdog.

When one considers Mr. West it doesn’t take a whole lot of imagination to be reminded of another scrappy kid who won the Presidency, back in 1948, against all odds,” Blitt said. “The press wrote him off, too. That’s right – Harry Truman.”