MSNBC guest panelist John Heilemann said Monday that if Donald Trump could be the Republican frontrunner in the summer of 2015, there was no reason rap artist Kanye West could not be the same for Democrats in 2019.
At Sunday night's VMAs, West announced a 2020 presidential bid at the conclusion of a bizarre, lengthy monologue that, according to West, was partially drug-induced.
"That is a crazy dude," host Joe Scarborough said, after Morning Joe played a clip of West's speech.
"If Donald Trump can be the Republican frontrunner in the summer of 2015, there's no reason why Kanye West can't be the Democratic frontrunner in the summer of 2019," Heilemann said.
The other panelists playfully asked Heilemann why he would assume West would be a Democrat. West infamously said in 2005 "George Bush doesn't care about black people" on television in criticism of the White House response to Hurricane Katrina.
The hosts also took shots at host Miley Cyrus, with Scarborough calling one get-up she wore involving balloons covering her private areas "repulsive."
"I would rather see Hugh Hewitt in that than Miley Cyrus," he said.