WASHINGTON, D.C. – 
Former professional wrestling superstar and Governor of Minnesota Jesse Ventura (James George Janos) recently tweeted about his supporters calling for him to run for President of the United States in 2016.
“I hear you guys and I am overwhelmed with the support. Maybe it’s time to take Washington down a peg or two,” said the tweet from @GovJVentura on July 26th.
This message to his fans was retweeted 900 times and favorited 1600 times. Supporters like @LoftusRaider replied to Jesse showing their support.
“That’s right Jesse, you could really ‘bodyslam’ those goons in Washington with your policies!” said Raider.
Twitter user @jtfalcon804 had similiar thoughts in his reply. “If more people in America were like @GovJVentura, not afraid to say what needs to be said, we’d be living in a much better country”.
A group of fans started jesseventura2016.com to encourage the former Governor to rise to the call of running for president, praising him for his leadership style. The web site states “If ‘We The People’ want real change, we are going to have to do something radical, like nominate Jesse Ventura for President in 2016.’
Despite having a massive amount of support from wrestling, political, and media fans, there are some people who think he is too brash and far out to make a good President.
In late July, Ventura won a lawsuit against slain Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle’s widow, Taya Kyle. The suit stated that before Kyle’s death, he had fabricated a story about punching the former Governor for comments he made when the two happened to be in the same bar on an evening in 2006. Ventura claimed that the entire altercation never happened, and walked away from court with an undisclosed settlement from the now deceased sniper’s estate.
In the wake of this controversy, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin spoke out against Ventura publicly on Twitter. Ventura tweeted out a series of retalitatory responses related to Palin’s comments, which he later deleted but did not issue an apologize for.
“Do you think I care at all about what @SarahPalinUSA has to say? Why are people still paying any attention to her?” said Ventura via Twitter. “[She] is the Honey Boo-Boo of politicians.”
Palin’s Twitter followers began attacking Ventura, eventually leading to him delete the tweets, but making no comment about them. Ventura had recently launched his show “Off the Grid” on the Ora TV Network, which he was in the middle of promoting on his twitter account, likely prompting him to delete the tweets about Palin.
Jesse Ventura has been outspoken about his distaste for the rich running the country and the greed in Washington being the primary element bringing down our country. He continues to flirt with the idea of running for President, but political experts have been doubtful.
“This isn’t the movie Idiocracy,” stated John Greer, Professor of Public Policy and Education at Vanderbilt University. “The only thing Jesse is going to put a choke hold on is legitimate third-party candidates vying for their parties’ nomination. Hulk Hogan would have a better chance of winning the election.”
When directly asked if he planned on running for president, Ventura was positive about the idea.
“You don’t have to be some fat cat in Washington with Pfizer in your pocket to be the President. However, I don’t know if I am ready to take on the burden of trying to fix a broken system. I am going to announce my final decision on the season finale to “Off the Grid,” so everyone will have to just tune in.”
