Mike Cernovich, political provocateur and purveyor of the Gorilla Mindset book and supplements, teased his Instagram followers with a poll on Saturday.
“Should I run for Congress?” Cernovich asked in an Instagram story Sept. 1. In a post later that day, Cernovich showed the results: 87 percent of respondents said he should.
Cernovich also posted a screenshot of the poll to Twitter, asking, “Would you vote for Congressman Cernovich?”
https://twitter.com/Cernovich/status/1035978208493989889
Responses were mixed, with some lamenting the fact that they didn’t live in his district (or even the U.S.), and others deploying the GIF equivalent of “Oh hell no.”
I would if i lived in your district
— American Against Millionaires in Congress (@REPUBLI06368268) September 2, 2018
https://twitter.com/MichaelStJoseph/status/1036030400961933315
Hahaha pic.twitter.com/PECokLQE5u
— DOC (@doctormalibu) September 2, 2018
— still life with fruit (@ssirenss14) September 2, 2018
Instagram was far more enthusiastic.
User @1mustangmom responded, “Go where ever the Good Lord leads you let him be your guide. ❤❤❤❤🕊🕊🕊🕊🕊”
“Move your dear fam to a red state where you can be free and run for Congress…your state sucks,” commented user @votedfortrump45, noting that California, where Cernovich lives, isn’t exactly a well of conservatism (although Orange County famously is).
“Let’s gorillify Capitol Hill,” said user @ivankovitz
In the past, Cernovich used his social media platform to propagate the Pizzagate conspiracy theory, which ended with an armed man showing up at a D.C.-area pizza parlor. He also led the charge to get James Gunn fired.
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Cernovich also appeared at a campaign event for Kelli Ward, the Trump Republican who is running for Senate in Arizona to replace Sen. Jeff Flake. Ward infamously wondered in a Facebook post if John McCain’s announcement that he was discontinuing treatment for cancer was intended to derail her campaign. She later apologized, but blamed the media for picking up on the post and “attacking [her] over fake stories for a year on this issue.”
Update 12:29pm: Reached for comment, Cernovich explained he was indeed “pre-selling a potential 2020 run. If Dana Rorbacher [sic] retires, the seat will be competitive and the media swarm would be interesting to say the least.” House Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R) represents California’s 48th Congressional district, which covers Orange County, south of Los Angeles.
