Vermin Supreme

Supreme grew up near Boston, Massachusetts[14][15] and is said to be the oldest of three children.[1] He graduated from Gloucester High School in 1979, then moved to Baltimore to attend art school, but he dropped out and began booking bands for underground clubs.[16]

In 1986, he joined the Great Peace March for Global Nuclear Disarmament in protest of nuclear weapons.[1] In 1987, he began running for public office.[17] He legally changed his name to Vermin Supreme in the 1990s while still in Baltimore.[1]

In 2006, Supreme donated one of his kidneys to save his mother.[1] He is married and has no children.[1]

Supreme discussed his political views in a 2008 promotional video. He stated he was registered as a Republican at that time, but that he leaned toward anarchism. He asserted that libertarians "are just about abolishing the government and letting shit fall where it may,"[18] which he called a mistake, though he later said that assertion was based on a "prejudice" for "lack of knowing,"[19] and that "[t]he Libertarian Party is the only party that aligns with my core principles of anti-state, anti-war, and anti-authority."[20] He also asserted that Republicans want to nullify the government, but "offer no alternative to helping people other than charity."[18] Supreme's vision of anarchism holds no need for government, but 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 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".[18]

In the video, Supreme discussed his presidential campaign. He describes his "joke humor" campaign as a response to the lies people are fed by the media and by the government.[18]

In an interview with the New Hampshire in 2018, Supreme labelled his political beliefs as "social anarchist" and believes that "Peter Kropotkin was a great anarchist thinker and writer".[21]

In December 2017 Hillary Clinton planned to visit Concord, New Hampshire for a book tour promoting her new book What Happened. In advance of her presentation, Supreme planned a demonstration in front of the bookstore during the event.[52] The demonstration was to be a "pony protest" and include at least one pony.[53] Supreme has a history of making the election promise of ponies to constituents and has asserted that Clinton does not like ponies enough.[54] When Supreme sought a protest permit for his demonstration the police ordered the city to deny his request.[54]

In response, Supreme asserted his "right to pony" and retained Marc Randazza, an attorney with a reputation for advocacy of First Amendment rights, to represent him in suing the city of Concord for the permit.[53] The court found in favor of Supreme, issuing an injunction that the city give him a permit, allow him to protest the event, and allow him to bring ponies.[53] A stipulation was that Supreme had to pay for parking for ponies at the rate for cars.[55]

When Supreme presented the pony protest, there was a parade.[56] More than 1,000 people attended the book signing and protest.[57] Various media sources covered the pony protest and Clinton book tour together.[58] The editors of the school newspaper of Londonderry High School used the event to endorse Supreme in the 2020 presidential election.[59]

In March 2018, inspired by several high school and college students (some from out-of-state) running for Governor of Kansas in the midterm election, Supreme stated that "I certainly did not want to draw away any votes from any teenagers running in the Governor’s race," instead opting to run for Attorney General, becoming a challenger to incumbent Republican Derek Schmidt. The lack of requirements in order to run for office, as outlined in the state's Constitution, has been heralded by Supreme: "This is indeed a very interesting and attractive loophole,” he said. “I think that’s a very good thing for democracy." Desarae Lindsay of Texas has been named his campaign treasurer.[60]

Supreme at an anti-fascist rally in Boston, November 2017

Supreme co-wrote and stars in the 2009 film Vote Jesus: The Chronicles of Ken Stevenson, in which he poses as a right-wing political candidate to gain access into the world of American fundamentalism.[61]

In 2012, Supreme starred in a web series entitled Learnin' with Vermin that uses a fictional version of his presidential campaign as a platform to teach political concepts such as voting methods.[62]

A documentary following Supreme on the 2012 campaign trail and exploring his life and work as an activist and political prankster called Who Is Vermin Supreme? An Outsider Odyssey was funded through a Kickstarter campaign and premiered at the Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival on April 9, 2014.[63] The film was directed by Minneapolis-based filmmaker Steve Onderick and features founder of the Rent is Too Damn High Party, Jimmy McMillan, and Boston-based singer-songwriter, comedian, and fellow performance artist Rob Potylo.[13] The film was released to the general public on Vimeo on Demand on January 30, 2016.[13]

Supreme has also collaborated with Potylo on his webseries, "Quiet Desperation."[64]

• Frivolous political party
• Political satire
• Pat Paulsen, another perennial satirical Presidential candidate.
• Lord Buckethead, a British satirical candidate.
• Screaming Lord Sutch, a similar satirical politician in the United Kingdom, who founded the British political party Official Monster Raving Loony Party, which has comparably unusual election pledges.
• Count Binface, a third British satirical candidate.
• Rhinoceros Party, a satirical Canadian political party with similarly unorthodox and facetious platform and practices.
• Surreal humour
• Tactical frivolity

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vermin Supreme.

• Vermin Supreme 2020, official 2020 presidential campaign website
• Vermin Supreme 2016, official 2016 presidential campaign website
• Vermin Supreme for Overlord of Planet Earth, official Facebook page
• Biography at Project Vote Smart
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Vermin Supreme on IMDb