John Hickenlooper reportedly had to remind security outside the first Democratic debate that he's one of the candidates

John Hickenlooper.
(Image credit: Zach Gibson/Getty Images)

2020 Democrat John Hickenlooper's name recognition is so low ahead of the first 2020 presidential debates, he almost didn't even get in.

Upon arriving for the event in Miami on Wednesday, Hickenlooper apparently wasn't recognized by security as the former two-term governor of Colorado who announced his candidacy for president nearly four months ago. Instead, he was asked if he was a reporter looking to pick up his credentials, NPR's Scott Detrow reports. "I'm a candidate," Hickenlooper had to say, typically not an ideal sequence of three words to utter during a presidential campaign. Security took his word for it, evidently.

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Brendan Morrow

Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.