Kanye West breaks down during presidential rally

Kanye West has gone on a wild rant against abortion and broke down in tears during his first rally for his last-minute presidential campaign.

The 43-year-old, who has left voters befuddled over whether his campaign is genuine or a publicity stunt, delivered rambling remarks at a Charleston, South Carolina, convention centre on Sunday.

Speaking for just over an hour, Kanye denounced abortion, swore, called on random audience members to speak, and sometimes seemed to be putting forward policy proposals on the fly.

He referred to the Bible multiple times, saying “The only thing that can free us is by obeying the rules that were given to us for a promised land.”

He then grew even more emotional and nearly incoherent, as he revealed that he and wife Kim Kardashian considered not having their first child, North West.

“I remember that my girlfriend called me screaming and crying. And I’m just thinking - and at that time I was a rapper, I was out there, I had different girlfriends and everything. And I was like, I want to word this in a way that - hey I don’t give a f***.

“She said she was pregnant, and for one month, and two months, and three months, we talked about her not having this child. She had the pills in her hand. When you take the pills, and if you take it, the baby’s gone,” he continued.

He then said he ‘got a message’ from God while in Paris: ‘If you f*** with my vision, I’m going to f*** with yours.’

“And I called my wife and she said, ‘We’re gonna have this baby.’ I said, ‘We’re gonna have this child. I know people that are 50 years old that didn’t have children, that have never been able to experience the level of joy that I experienced having a child,” he said.

“So even if my wife were to divorce me after this speech, she brought North into the world, even when I didn’t want to. She stood up and she protected that child.”

Still crying, he described how he was nearly aborted by his own parents.

“You know who else protected a child? Who do you think might have protected a child? My mum saved my life. My dad wanted to abort me. My mum saved my life. There would have been no Kanye West, because my dad was too busy!”

He argued that abortion should be legal but heavily discouraged, suggesting he would promote a policy as president that anyone who gives birth to a child be given $US1 million “or something in that family”.

The event, which was live streamed on YouTube and carried on local television stations, did little to clarify whether Kanye is genuinely attempting to win the presidency.

The campaign he launched with a July 4 tweet has already missed several deadlines to appear on key state ballots.

He appeared on stage with "2020" shaved into the back of his head and wearing what appeared to be a military-style vest.

The event carried few similarities with typical polished candidate events. The venue appeared to lack audience microphones, so Kanye repeatedly told the crowd to be silent so audience members he called on could be heard.

Additional reporting by AAP.

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