Kanye West appears to accuse Kim Kardashian of being a white supremacist and refers to himself as future president

Rapper’s bizarre rally in South Carolina met with confusion and concern

Rapper Kanye West, who says he is running in the 2020 presidential election, went on a bizarre Twitter rant on Wednesday morning in which he said he is divorcing Kim Kardashian, whom he referred to as a “white supremacist”.

Mr West also insulted his mother-in-law Kris Jenner, calling her “Kris Jong Un”, while referring to himself as “the future president” – as well as showing off what appears to be the tracklist for an upcoming album.

His volley of tweets, the most incendiary of which he has now deleted, follows a similar outburst on Monday in which he made reference to being “locked up like Mandela”, saying his wife “tried to bring a doctor to lock me up with a doctor”.

Mr West has spoken before about his recent history of mental illness, acknowledging in 2018 that he had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. He described the condition as a “superpower” in a song on his album Ye, and said the condition could make him “hyper-paranoid” at times.

Many of his recent tweets are implicitly or explicitly directed at his wife. He has twice compared his marriage to the film Get Out, in which a white woman entraps a black boyfriend to undergo brain surgery and provide a vessel for a white man’s brain.

He also took digs at her appearance in Playboy magazine more than 10 years ago, writing “I put my life on God that North’s mom would never photograph her doing playboy and that’s on God I’m at the ranch … come and get me (sic)”.

His final tweet in the latest outburst simply read: “Says the future president”.

While it is unclear how serious Mr West’s presidential campaign is, he has filed to get on the November ballot in Oklahoma and Illinois. Some, however, have speculated that the campaign is a ruse designed to promote his upcoming album DONDA.

If you are based in the USA, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call National Suicide Prevention Helpline on 1-800-273-TALK (8255). The Helpline is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

If you are in the UK and are experiencing feelings of distress and isolation, or are struggling to cope, The Samaritans offers support; you can speak to someone for free over the phone, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@samaritans.org, or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch.