Asked by Michel Martin, host of Tell Me More, about his qualifications to be president, Jean said: “Number one, that I am not a Haitian politician. The fact that you’ve had this corruption and this massive economy toppled in the past 200 years. I think what makes me qualified is the fact that I am drafted by the youth, number one. I understand that to move Haiti forward, it’s gonna take policies with these four pillars with five points: education, job creation, agriculture, security and healthcare. I clearly understand that. I also understand what makes me qualified is, if you have $5.2 billion sitting, which is promised by donors, somebody have [sic] to go get that money. And so you don’t need just a local president. I think you need a president that’s global, that’s going to be moving through the globe.”

Jean also responded to news that his former Fugees bandmate Pras will not endorse his run, telling Martin: “As I’ve matured in life, I haven’t, if I look back 10 years or maybe 12, I haven’t had a conversation with Pras for more than 30 seconds.”

On All Things Considered, host Michele Norris asked Jean about recent scrutiny over his own finances: $2.1 million in back taxes owed to the United States, and alleged mismanagement of post-quake charity funds by his aid foundation, Yéle Haiti. "The idea of Wyclef taking money to put in his pocket, that is a no. The idea of taking personal money to give to my family, that is a no. …The idea of Wyclef being corrupted is a no," he said.

Asked by Norris how he can manage Haiti’s finances when his own are under question, Jean said: “The first thing is that I am not running from the IRS, that’s the number one thing. The number two thing is, I make a lot of money a year. And the number three thing is, my accountants and my business people are handing the IRS.”