Kanye West Claims Harriet Tubman 'Never Actually Freed Slaves' During Debut Rally | 22 Words

Shocking footage from Kanye West's debut campaign rally has shown the rapper-turned-politician making some pretty controversial claims regarding slavery, and people are not happy with what he had to say...

Ladies and Gentlemen, this man could potentially be our future president.

Earlier this month, Kanye West shocked the world when he announced - via Twitter, of course - that he would be running for president.

At first, people weren't too convinced with his announcement...

Let's just say that Kanye is no stranger when it comes to impulsive decisions.

But, despite people's doubts, last night Kanye hosted his first campaign rally...

And he stirred up a whole lot of controversy in the process.

Now, Kanye West isn't usually known for his politics.

Since the early 2000s, Kanye has become one of the biggest names in the music industry.

The rapper has gone on to release numerous albums...

These include My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy in 2010,  Yeezus in 2013, The Life of Pablo in 2016, Ye in 2018, and Jesus is King in 2019.

And his music isn't the only reason he's so famous...

In 2011, Kanye became an official member of the infamous Kardashian clan when he started dating Kim Kardashian. The couple got married in Italy in 2014 and they have since had 4 children together - North, Chicago, Saint, and Psalm.

What do you think of this picture for America's next First Family?

But, putting the glitz and the glamor to one side, Kanye hasn't been without his issues.

Where do we begin when it comes to Kanye's erratic behavior?

Kanye has never been afraid of letting his opinion be known and, throughout the years, he has been in and out of the headlines for his strange and eye-opening antics.

But there was a heartbreaking explanation for these particular behaviors...

Last year, Kanye opened up about his battles with mental illness. He revealed that, in 2014, he was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder, 2 years before he suffered his highly-publicized nervous breakdown in 2016, which was likely triggered by the anniversary of his mother's death.

Kanye has come a long way in his battle...

And he has been using his platform to help break down the stigma surrounding mental health issues.

But his most recent announcement has stirred up the concern once again...

Because, out of the blue, he revealed that he would be running for president.

Now, in the last couple of years, Kanye has been dabbling in and out of the world of American politics.

Back in 2018, Kanye, who is an avid Trump supporter, sat down with the president in the Oval Office where he proclaimed his support and declared Trump a “hero" in a bizarre, rambling televised monologue that spawned myriad parodies.

But, this month, he took things to the next level.

Taking to Twitter on July 4th, Kanye wrote: "We must now realize the promise of America by trusting God, unifying our vision, and building our future. I am running for president of the United States! #2020Vision."

Despite teasing the idea for years...

Nobody thought that he'd actually do it. Also, what ever happened to having an education and experience in politics before you could even think about being president?

But this is America 2020, and anything can happen...

Granted you have millions of dollars and a handful of powerful friends, that is.

However, the rest of us weren't too impressed.

Even though the notorious rapper is deadly serious, people weren't pleased with the news, at all.

And despite initially Tweeting his support, even Elon Musk has even voiced his doubts.

Musk was one of the first people to voice his support for the rapper's ambitious project, but he recently backtracked by revealing his doubts by saying he thinks Kanye should wait a few years. "I have not dropped my support for Kanye, although I think 2024 would be better than 2020," he said in a recent interview with Page 6.

But, regardless of the haters, the rapper has been deadset on his "2020 vision"...

And, over the weekend, he hosted his first-ever campaign rally.

However, his campaign proved to be a little unconventional.

Kanye, who was clad in a bullet-proof vest with the numbers "2020" shaved into his head, threw his rally in Charleston, South Carolina, where he seemed to whip up various policy decisions right there on the spot.

It was all very bizarre.

The musician went off on several lengthy rants and, alarmingly, dissolved into tears while on the topic of abortion.

People were, quite understandably, concerned by the footage...

And many can't believe that someone experiencing a potential manic episode could even be allowed to host a presidential rally.

But, there was one moment from his rally that proved to be a little more controversial and worrisome than the rest.

At one point, Kanye moved on to discuss slavery, which is already dangerous waters for the rapper, after he insisted that being enslaved was "a choice" back in 2018.

During his speech, he decided to tarnish the name of Harriet Tubman.

Now, Harriet Tubman was born into slavery but managed to break free and went on to lead dozens, and potentially hundreds of other slaves to freedom.

Tubman has become a prominent figure in the abolishment of slavery...

And, to this day, her name and legacy stand as a poignant symbol for both the anti-slavery movement and the BLM movement.

But, evidently, Kanye doesn't quite see her in that way.

Speaking valiantly to the crowd - without a microphone - Kanye said: "Harriet Tubman never actually freed the slaves, she just had them work for other white people."

With this, there were multiple groans from the crowd...

And the woman behind the camera could be heard saying: "Ya'll, we leaving right now."

People were not impressed with his accusation...

And they took to Twitter to slam the rapper for being "disrespectful."

You can watch the controversial moment here.

The woman who filmed the footage captioned her post with: "Kanye said this and I left immediately. I went for a laugh and I got one. But when it got disrespectful for me it was over." What do you think? Has Kanye finally taken things too far?