Vermin Supreme

Vermin Love Supreme (born 1960 or 1961) is an American performance artist and activist who has run as a candidate in various local, state, and national elections in the United States.

He served as a member of the Libertarian Party's judicial committee.

Supreme is known for wearing a boot as a hat and carrying a comically large toothbrush, and has said that if elected President of the United States, he will pass a law requiring people to brush their teeth.

He has campaigned on a platform of zombie apocalypse awareness and time travel research, and promised a free pony for every American.

In 1986, Supreme joined the Great Peace March for Global Nuclear Disarmament in protest of nuclear weapons.

Supreme's first political campaign was for Mayor of Baltimore in 1987.

At the time, Supreme was without income, and later said that he ran "mainly to give myself a project...something to do."

The election was won by Kurt Schmoke.

Supreme has run in every presidential election since 1992.

Supreme campaigned in the Washington, D.C. presidential primary in 2004, where he received 149 votes.

Supreme discussed his political views in a 2008 promotional video.

He said he was registered as a Republican at that time, but that he leaned toward anarchism and was influenced by the Situationist International, dadaism, and discordianism.

He asserted that libertarians "are just about abolishing the government and letting shit fall where it may", which he called a mistake, though he later said that assertion was based on a "prejudice" for "lack of knowing."

He asserted that Republicans want to nullify the government, but "offer no alternative to helping people other than charity."

Supreme's vision of anarchism holds no need for government and depends on citizens to take responsibility for themselves and for others, citing "mutual aid and support and care to our fellow citizens" as key elements.

To that end, Supreme has called for a gradual dismantling of the government, while citizens take up the slack.

He asserted that Americans no longer know how to be citizens, placing some of the blame on schools that teach in a "very twisted and jingoistic fashion".

Discussing his presidential campaign in the video, Supreme describes his "joke humor" campaign as a response to the lies people are fed by the media and by the government.

Supreme campaigned in the New Hampshire Republican primary in 2008.

He received 41 votes (0.02%) in the New Hampshire primary.

According to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), he also received 43 votes nationally in the general election.

In 2011, he participated in the Occupy Boston protests.

On April 14, 2011, Supreme participated in the First Debate of the New Election Cycle at the IGLO Dissidents' Convention which also included Jimmy McMillan, Jill Stein, and others.

On October 29, 2011, Supreme participated in a satirical debate against a representative of the campaign of deceased British occultist Aleister Crowley.

On December 19, he participated in the "Lesser-Known Democratic Candidates Presidential Forum", at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College and "glitterbombed" fellow candidate Randall Terry.

An Outsider Odyssey'', which follows his 2012 campaign and explores his life as an activist and political prankster.

Supreme campaigned as a Democrat in the 2012 U.S. presidential election.

His candidacy was supported by the Good Humor Party.

He qualified to be listed on the 2012 Democratic Party primary ballot in New Hampshire.

He was a candidate in the Iowa Democratic caucuses, and received 1.4% of the votes on January 3, 2012.

He is the subject of the 2014 documentary ''Who Is Vermin Supreme?

In an interview with the New Hampshire in 2018, Supreme labeled his political beliefs as "social anarchist" and opined that Peter Kropotkin "was a great anarchist thinker and writer".

Supreme campaigned for the Libertarian Party's 2020 presidential nomination.

At the 2020 Libertarian National Convention he came in third place, receiving 206 delegate votes.

Supreme generally runs for office as a satirical candidate, making proposals that are considered outlandish or unrealistic and communicating in an unorthodox way in order to mock politicians and the political system.

His eccentric attire includes multiple ties and a boot on his head, and he sometimes carries a giant toothbrush.

He has created attention by giving interviews to reporters and crashing campaign events for major candidates.

Some of the main themes of Supreme's campaigns are instituting a mandatory tooth brushing law, giving every American a free pony, using zombies for renewable energy, zombie apocalypse awareness, and time travel research.

He largely avoided discussing major political issues until his 2020 presidential campaign, which was more serious.

Supreme has run variously as a Republican, a Democrat, and a Libertarian.