By Kanach Peterson

Professional multi-genre artist Rob Ritchie denied running for a Michigan Senate seat a mere four months since launching kidrockforsenate.com and tweeting “absolute YES” in response to inquiries about the website’s legitimacy, claiming his circle was “in the joke” in an interview on Howard Stern’s SiriusXM show.

Stage named Kid Rock, Robert James Ritchie is known for his various roles as singer, rapper, songwriter, musician, record producer, and actor. A five-time Grammy Award nominee, Kid is affiliated with the Republican Party and self-identifies as a libertarian.

Kid Rock tweeted a “Kid Rock for US Senate” yard sign on July 12th, captioned “I have had a ton of emails and texts asking me if this website is real… http://kidrockforsenate.com%5B.%5D The answer is an absolute YES.” His campaign ambitions did not make more waves beyond the occasional tweets, however.

The topic was revisited on the SiriusXM interview on October 24th where he allegedly mocked anyone who’s taken his declaration seriously. Citing the November album release, he’s quoted to have said, “Fuck no, I’m not running for Senate. Are you kidding me? Who couldn’t figure that out? I’m releasing a new album. I’m going on tour too. Are you fucking shitting me?” He continued to describe it as the “worst advice” he gave himself, yet the “most creative thing” he’s done and “gotten to see everyone’s true colors.”