*By Max Godnick*
Kanye West was slinging optimistic platitudes last month, courting conservative thought leaders, and increasing his public profile.
Could a trip to Iowa be next?
The rapper's recent Twitter activity has caused some pundits to speculate about his political ambitions.
In April, West expressed his "love" for President Trump and wore a "Make America Great Again" hat in [a photo](https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/989222392630202368). He said he "likes the way" the right-wing commentator Candace Owens thinks, and released a new song with the lyric: "I know Obama was heaven-sent, but ever since Trump won, it proved that I could be president."
West had teased a potential White House run in September 2015 at MTV's Video Music Awards, where he announced, "I have decided in 2020 to run for president."
Last week, he appeared to postpone his plan, cryptically tweeting ["2024"](https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/988984329295441921).
"I could see him trying," said Brande Victorian, the managing editor of MadameNoire, a Black women's lifestyle site. "I mean, we didn't think Trump would be here."
Republicans have embraced West's newly-public political musings. Donald Trump Jr. [tweeted a photo](https://twitter.com/DonaldJTrumpJr/status/990930382685196288) Monday of West with Owens and the conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Victorian said Tuesday in an interview with Cheddar she was skeptical that West could convince his fans to fully get behind conservatives.
"You're asking virtually everyone who the party does not care about to all of a sudden have empathy for this group, which is nonsensical," she said.
For full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/will-kanye-west-run-for-president).
As of 2020, there were some 270 million registered vehicles in the United States, each one adorned with a mandatory license plate or two. And while plates appear standardized within states, when you zoom out to the whole country, the system get well, downright chaotic.
European plates vary by country, but look similar. While that’s certainly less visually interesting, it's a whole lot more effective. Back here in the States, our lack of license plate standardization can cause real headaches
The March consumer price index showed a 1.2 percent month-over-month increase and 8.5 percent increase from a year ago, which was the highest reading since 1981.
Police are looking for a U-Haul truck in connection to the Brooklyn subway shooting. At least 10 people were shot and seven others injured in the Tuesday morning shooting.
Putin's first face-to-face meeting with an EU leader in a while, Philadelphia is bringing back its mask mandate, and puppy fraud! Here is all the news you Need2Know for Tuesday, April 12, 2022.
As life inches toward a post-pandemic world, many people are trying to navigate how to transition from their work-from-home look to a new back-to-office style for the first time in two years. Dina Scherer, the owner of Modnitsa Styling, joined Cheddar News to provide some styling suggestions for those returning to the office. 'I do hear this from a lot of my clients that they just have no idea how to transition from sweat pants, athleisure, into a work office environment outfit that's both appropriate and comfortable,' she noted.
April is Alcohol Awareness Month, and while COVID-19 has not made it easy for people who deal with addiction, Marci Hopkins, the author of the upcoming "Chaos to Clarity: Seeing the Signs and Breaking the Cycles," joined Cheddar News to talk about ways people can break out of a bad cycle of bad habits. “Things that have helped me; move a muscle change a thought," she said. "If you start thinking about having that drink or whatever it is that you have turned to, get up. Move. That's really, really important," she said.
U.S. stocks saw a jump in the final hour of Thursday's session, and ultimately closed slightly higher for the day. Tim Pagliara, Chief Investment Officer of CapWealth, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss. "The markets have had to digest a lot of action from the federal reserve this quarter and it's affecting everything from mortgage rates to how they value stocks," he said.
Herold Meyerson, Editor at Large of 'The American Prospect,' joined Closing Bell to discuss the recent uptick in unionization efforts across the U.S. and what it might mean for large corporations like Amazon and Starbucks, where workers are increasingly pushing to unionize.
Seth Schachner, a digital business executive and the managing director of the consultancy Strat Americas, joined Closing Bell to talk all about the mega-merger between WarnerMedia and Discovery, combining to form Warner Bros. Discovery (Nasdaq: WBD), and what it means for the streaming space going forward. “I think unlike some of the other mergers that you've seen out there. I think this one has actually got a real chance to be successful and to really further the cause of streaming," he said.
