Deez Nuts: the 15-year-old boy running for US president
Teenager from Iowa is currently running the most successful independent presidential campaign since 1996

The race to become the next president of the United States is hotting up, and a brand new candidate is stealing headlines from frontrunners Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.
Deez Nuts has become the most successful independent presidential candidate in two decades – no mean feat for a 15-year-old schoolboy from rural Iowa.
The boy behind the campaign, which has been attracting worldwide attention, is high-school sophomore Brady Olsen, the son of a farmer and dental assistant who says he is ready to "put up a fight".
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
He completed his official statement of candidacy last month and in a Public Policy Polling (PPP) survey released on Wednesday, Deez Nuts won nine per cent of the vote in North Carolina, eight per cent in Minnesota and seven per cent in Iowa, reports ABC7 Eyewitness News.
Voters were asked: "If the candidates for president next year were Democrat Hillary Clinton, Republican Donald Trump, and independent Deez Nuts who would you vote for?"
Olsen told Rolling Stone that despite being 20 years shy of the 35-year minimum age limit, he was inspired to run for president because he "really doesn't" want to see Clinton, Bush or Trump in the White House.
"I saw the slop bucket that we call the GOP field, the one-woman show on the Democratic side, and the lack of any third party candidate and thought 'Man, Deez Nuts would be better than any of these guys,'" he said in a separate interview with the The Guardian. "So after that I just ran with it."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
So what does Nuts stand for? He's for balanced budgets, in favour of the Iran deal, against illegal immigration, for gay marriage, against oil subsidies and pro-choice.
"I feel that as equal human beings that we should be allowed to choose how to live our lives without being discriminated by one another," he says in his manifesto.
Olsen says his parents are fully supportive of his campaign. "I've told my family and some of my friends from school," he said. "They still think it's hilarious."
Asked why American voters should support him over Trump, the teenager said: "Because I'm young and I think I have fresher ideas because whatever decisions I make would have longer effects on me."
Experts are clear on the reason for his success. Jim Williams, a polling analyst who conducted the North Carolina poll, told the Guardian he believes his popularity is down to a hunger among voters searching for any alternative to the Republican and Democrat parties.
"You could call [the third party candidate] anything," he said, "and they would get their seven or eight per cent."
-
Trump says he authorized covert CIA ops in Venezuela
Speed Read He is also considering military strikes inside the country
-
Are inflatable costumes and naked bike rides helping or hurting ICE protests?
Talking Points Trump administration efforts to portray Portland and Chicago as dystopian war zones have been met with dancing frogs, bare butts and a growing movement to mock MAGA doomsaying
-
‘Are we just going to stand in passive witness to the degradation of our democracy?’
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Venezuela: Does Trump want war?
Feature Donald Trump has accused Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro of leading a drug cartel and waging a narco-terrorism campaign against the United States
-
Two years on, a Gaza truce may be in sight
Feature Israel and Hamas consider the U.S.’ 20-point peace plan exchanging hostages for prisoners
-
Trump declares end to Gaza war, ‘dawn’ of new Mideast
Speed Read Hamas freed the final 20 living Israeli hostages and Israel released thousands of Palestinian detainees
-
Taking the low road: why the SNP is still standing strong
Talking Point Party is on track for a fifth consecutive victory in May’s Holyrood election, despite controversies and plummeting support
-
Has the Gaza deal saved Netanyahu?
Today's Big Question With elections looming, Israel’s longest serving PM will ‘try to carry out political alchemy, converting the deal into political gold’