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

(Image credit: Zach Gibson/Getty Images)

last updated 26 June 2019

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.

Hickenlooper is set to participate in the second night of debates on Thursday alongside several other candidates who thousands of Americans will no doubt be frantically Googling, from Marianne Williamson to Andrew Yang. After getting inside the venue and speaking to reporters about this embarrassing little confusion, ABC's Rick Klein reports the former governor described this ordeal as the "story of my life."

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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.