While it is still unclear who will represent the Democrat Party and challenge Donald Trump for the presidency in 2020, former wrestler and Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura (pictured above left) spoke up recently: He said he’s strongly considering a third-party run — and he took a shot at the president in the process.
The former Minnesota governor, WWE-WWF wrestler and actor — who starred in films like “Abraxas, Guardian of the Universe” and “Predator” — told TMZ that seeing his name on the 2020 ticket might be a possibility.
“I haven’t made a decision yet because it’s a long time off, but if I do do it, rest assured … If I do do it, Trump will not have a chance,” the 67-year-old declared.
“Because for one, Trump knows wrestling — he’s participated in two WrestleManias. He knows he can never out-talk a wrestler, and I am the greatest talker wrestling’s ever had. So if I go for it, he’s history and he knows it.”
As far as his political agenda goes, Ventura said, “I’m big into cannabis legalization. I’m also into alternative energy — big. We gotta get away from fossil fuels, we gotta go to the sun [for energy]. It’s time. The greens have shown some interest.”
By “greens,” Ventura means the Green Party, of which he’s been a member since 2016. He endorsed Jill Stein for president in 2016 and was disappointed Bernie Sanders did not run after failing to secure the Democratic nomination.
Would Ventura fare well in the general election? Absolutely not. Although he did win the 1998 Minnesota gubernatorial election as a member of the Reform Party with a 37 percent plurality in a three-way race, he did not seek re-election. Despite claims that he’s “fiscally conservative” and “socially liberal,” Ventura entered office with a $4 billion surplus and left with a $4.5 billion deficit, according to Minnesota Public Radio.
Interestingly enough, it was also during that Minnesota gubernatorial tenure that Ventura and Trump were briefly political allies. Ventura encouraged Trump to run for the Reform Party nomination in 2000; Ventura did this because he was vehemently opposed to Pat Buchanan, who got the party’s nomination.
As a result, Ventura left the Reform Party altogether.
From a political standpoint, Ventura has also done great damage to his reputation since leaving office. He’s become one of America’s most prominent conspiracy theorists, even hosting a TruTV show called “Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura” from 2009 to 2012.
In an appearance on the “Today” show in 2010, he claimed the United States government was involved in the 9/11 terrorist attacks; he also co-authored a 2014 book called “They Killed Our President: 63 Reasons to Believe There Was a Conspiracy to Assassinate JFK.”
This is the same Jesse Ventura who sued the widow of late Navy SEAL Chris Kyle. Why? Because Kyle claimed in his “American Sniper” memoir that he punched out Ventura, who was also a Navy SEAL, at a bar in 2006 because Ventura supposedly said the SEALs “deserved to lose a few” in war.
Kyle died in 2013; Ventura received $1.84 million when a judge settled the suit in 2014.
Ventura has also said he goes “off the grid,” living in Mexico six months out of the year at an undisclosed location to “hide from drones.”
Nowadays, he is employed by RT (Russia Today) America, a Russian state-sponsored media outlet.
Check out Jesse Ventura’s recent interview with TMZ below:
Tom Joyce is a freelance writer from the South Shore of Massachusetts. He covers sports, pop culture, and politics and has contributed to The Federalist, Newsday, and other outlets.
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