Kanye West has spent $6M of his own money on presidential campaign

Kanye West spent nearly $6 million on his fly-by-night presidential campaign, according to his first filing with the Federal Election Commission.

The lion’s share of the money was part of a $6.8 million loan the rapper gave to his campaign. The cash was mostly spent on outside consultants and getting on ballots in states across the country. He received just $11,000 in outside funding, according to Politico.

West is worth an estimated $1.3 billion, suggesting he can continue to finance his campaign for as long as he wishes.

Still the effort has faced headwinds. On Thursday, the rapper was booted from ballots in Arizona and Virginia.

Arizona state Judge Scott McCoy said the rapper could not appear on the Grand Canyon State ballots as an independent candidate in the 2020 presidential election because he is already registered as a Republican. Meanwhile, a Virginia judge held that a number of West’s qualifying signatures had been obtained through fraud.

The move nixes West in two states, which have the potential to emerge as battlegrounds in the 2020 contest between President Trump and Joe Biden.

West is a close ally of Trump’s and his presidential campaign has been pushed and promoted by GOP operatives.

Though he won’t be appearing on Arizona or Virginia ballots, he is confirmed on the ballot in at least 10 others including Colorado, Iowa and Minnesota.