Last October, former professional wrestler, governor of Minnesota and American Sniper hater Jesse Ventura hinted that he just might try to nab the Libertarian Party’s nomination for the 2016 presidential election. Nothing ever came of this threat promise, but in a recent interview, the proudly registered independent suggested that — if Bernie Sanders were to lose the Democratic nomination to Hillary Clinton, and the election became a runoff between her and Donald Trump — he just might run.
While discussing the presidential race with The Daily Beast in Minneapolis, Ventura admitted his preference for both Trump and Sanders. However, the ex-wrestler and ex-politician noted that he wasn’t such a fan of Clinton. Hence his reasoning for possibly jumping into the election at a such a late moment in the process.
“They’re setting the groundwork for me because if Bernie loses, by the time we get to June, how sick are the people going to be of all these people… See, I’m an independent and I despise the two parties… I love what Trump’s doing to the Republicans. He’s got them in complete disarray. In fact, it looks like the WWE when you watch their debates.”
Unlike Sanders, a fellow longtime independent who switched over to the Democratic Party in order to win its nomination, Ventura believes his commitment to neither party puts him in a coveted position between Clinton and Trump. One that, come election day in November, many moderate and undecided voters will see as a positive quality that neither of the major parties’ candidates possess. Or at least that’s what Ventura thinks.
Then again, considering the fact that Ventura defended Trump’s initial refusal to disavow the support of white supremacist David Duke, that probably won’t be the case. Republican rival Ted Cruz came out against Trump’s comments, as did Speaker of the House Paul Ryan. And while both are representative of one of Ventura’s despised parties, politicians and groups on the other side of the aisle have also lampooned Trump for his delayed rejection of Duke and the Ku Klux Klan.
Per Ventura’s comments to The Daily Beast:
“Anyone can endorse you… Why is it up to the candidate to denounce any endorsement? In our country, you are free to vote for whoever you want to vote for. If David Duke wants to vote for Donald Trump, he’s welcome to do that. I think the media is out of line to think a candidate immediately has to denounce somebody.”
So, despite any initial excitement you may have had about a three-way political fight between Ventura, Clinton, and Trump, nothing of the sort is going to happen. Sorry, everybody.
(Via The Daily Beast)