Kanye West invokes his late mother in surprising message to Kamala Harris

Kanye West might be Kamala Harris' political rival, but the rapper and presidential hopeful had some heartfelt words of encouragement for his opposition.

West shared a photo of his late mother as a young child to Twitter, reflecting that she "would have been friends" with Harris, for whom he has "all love and respect".

West's mother, Donda West, died in 2008 at age 58 following complications from surgery. West has publicly struggled to come to terms with her death. In 2018 he announced that the cover art of his album Ye would be a photo of the man who performed his mother's final surgery in an effort to "forgive and stop hating" him, although he was eventually dissuaded from this by the surgeon.

Despite congratulating Harris for being selected as Joe Biden's running mate, West didn't exactly throw his full support behind her, describing himself as "the future president".

West announced that he was running for president in early July, but his late entrance to the race and apparent lack of paperwork cast doubt on how feasible this bid really was.

But although West missed the deadline to appear on the ballot in the majority of US states, he has qualified to run in at least four.

His campaign is in the midst of further difficulties, however, as the petitions he submitted in Illinois, Wisconsin and New Jersey have been contested over alleged forged signatures. Mickey Mouse and Bernie Sanders are among those whose names appear on Ye's official petitions.

Some people praised West for his "cordial" message to his political rival.

But others weren't so impressed, accusing West of offering Harris a "backhanded compliment".

In her first speech as the Democrat vice president nominee, Kamala Harris criticised the Trump administration for their handling of the pandemic and emphasised that the "last few years do not represent who we are". She is yet to respond to West's well wishes.

West, meanwhile, has announced that his running mate is Michelle Tidball, a "biblical life coach" from his home state of Illinois.