Kanye West Cries While Talking About Abortion and Daughter North at South Carolina Campaign Rally

Also at the rally, during which he spoke about his past relationship with Amber Rose, his Adidas partnership and gun laws, West addressed criticism he has faced since announcing his bid. "The most racist thing that has ever been said out loud is the idea that if Kanye West runs for president, I'm going to split the Black votes," he said.

"I don’t give a f— if I win the presidency or not… I am in service to God," West added during his speech about his bid. "God has a plan for us and his people to be finally free. Trump, Biden, or Kanye West cannot free us."

The South Carolina rally was his first campaign event since announcing his bid for the presidency in a brief tweet on the Fourth of July. "We must now realize the promise of America by trusting God, unifying our vision and building our future," he wrote at the time. (Kardashian West retweeted her husband's post and added an American flag emoji.)

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West's rally came just days after he filed his first official paperwork regarding his campaign in Oklahoma. A spokeswoman for the state's election board previously confirmed to PEOPLE that a West representative filed paperwork on Wednesday to qualify him to run as an independent on the November ballot.

West paid the required $35,000 filing fee and also submitted a statement of candidacy. Wednesday was the last day for candidates to file in Oklahoma in order to appear on November's ballot there.

Meanwhile, South Carolina's deadline to file signatures as an independent candidate was moved from July 15 to July 20 at noon. The state does not allow write-in candidates.

Separately on Wednesday, West's team appeared to have filed a statement of organization with the Federal Election Commission designating his principal campaign committee as Kanye 2020. The form, reviewed by PEOPLE, listed the office West is seeking as the presidency and his political party as "BDY," seemingly a reference to the Birthday Party, which West mentioned in a recent Forbes interview.

The FEC form names an Andre Bodiford as treasurer of the committee, which is the official group that raises and spends money on behalf of West's candidacy. (A message left at Bodiford's listed number was not returned. A spokesman for West did not respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.)

The next day, West appeared to have filed his statement of candidacy, which under federal law would make him a presidential candidate.

West still faces significant hurdles to appear on the ballot in most states in the November election as one recent national poll put his support at 2 percent. He needs 270 electoral votes to win, and there are only 306 electoral votes left among the states, including Washington, D.C., where the filing deadlines have yet to pass.

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