‘Tom Brady Sketch’ and ‘Elizabeth Ann Warren’ file to run for president
Welcome to the post-“Deez Nuts’’ era of politics.
Fans of Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren finally have their wish: Someone named “Elizabeth Ann Warren’’ of Springfield, Massachusetts has filled out a form to become a candidate for U.S. President!
But so has someone named “Tom Brady Sketch,’’ from Foxborough, as part of the Write-In party (heh). And so is What R. Those from Chelmsford as part of the “I’’ party. They’re likely to face stiff competition locally from another presidential candidate, What Are Thoooooose, from 0 ShoeGame Street in Chelmsford, who is running as an Independent.
It should be clear by now that none of these are real candidates for office. Yet they are among the 16 Massachusetts residents who have filled out the Statement of Candidacy form to declare their intent to run for U.S. President.
Tom Brady Sketch, of 1 Patriot Place, designated @TomBradySketch as the candidate’s campaign committee.
The Federal Election Commission has seen a dramatic rise in fake candidates in the past week, ever since a 15-year-old in Iowa filled out a form to run for president as “Deez Nuts.’’ A tongue-in-cheek poll by Public Policy Polling found Deez Nuts pulling 7 percent of the vote in Iowa when pitted against Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.
As The Washington Post’s Philip Bump points out, Deez Nuts became a genuine phenomenon, and was the only “candidate’’ to be searched online more than Trump, the mother of all media comparisons. The FEC has been flooded with fake candidacies ever since.
Indeed, 12 of the 16 presidential candidates from Massachusetts declared to run after Deez Nuts’s quixotic run reached the mass media on August 19.
In addition to Tom Brady Sketch and What R. Those — a reference to the popular meme of the same name — someone named “Benjamin Dover’’ of Lexington is also running for president. His campaign committee is named “Ben Dover for America.’’ Nothing like some potty humor on a government form.
How can we be sure these are all really fake? Just to check, we reached out to Sen. Warren.
“It was not filed by the Senator,’’ a spokesperson said.
Gallery: The actual candidates running for president.
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