MANSFIELD — The perennial presidential candidate Vermin Supreme appeared at Mansfield’s The Mothership on Saturday night.
He spoke between a lineup of artists at the local music venue.
The Magnavox’s, Scott Yoder and Yellow Fever played Saturday night. Supreme’s stop in Mansfield came as part of his presidential ambitions tour for the 2024 election, he told Richland Source.
Supreme has run for president in every election cycle since 1992. His political affiliation is hard to pin down. Supreme has run as a Democrat, Republican and Libertarian. Most recently, he finished third in the Libertarian party’s primary in 2020.
His running mate, Spike Cohen, nabbed a spot on the 2020 ballot as Libertarian candidate Jo Jorgensen‘s vice presidential candidate that year.
Supreme has made a name for himself with satirical runs for the nation’s top office.
Best known for wearing a boot on his head, he has advocated for a law mandating toothbrushing, free ponies for all and time travel research. His appearance at The Mothership Saturday night touched on all those themes.
Supreme said during his first speech that he wanted to address a rumor that he was conducting experiments to turn humans into ponies. He said that rumor was untrue.
“I do, however, support the voluntary creation of human-pony centaurs,” Supreme said.
He engaged the audience, having them shout back and forth with him. Supreme had them spell out the alphabet, and then asked what other words they could spell with those letters. Answers ranged from, “Vermin Supreme,” to “ponies,” to obscenities.
Despite his satirical approach, Supreme has earned some support in his runs. His TikTok account boasts over 180,000 followers. Some, like Michael Veloff of Galion, think there’s something to his approach.
Veloff worked on Supreme’s campaign in 2020. He said when he heard Supreme was coming to Ohio, he knew the candidate needed to stop in Mansfield.
Veloff and Chase Beaire, who works booking and planning at The Mothership, have been friends since 2019. Beaire and Veloff worked together to make sure Supreme appeared at the local venue.
Veloff said he used to be part of the Green Party, but has since switched to the Libertarian Party. He worked to fundraise for Supreme’s campaign in Ohio in 2020, and plans to help again in 2024. According to Veloff, politics today are absurd.
“I like that he’s not afraid to make fun of it,” Veloff said.
Supreme said his presidential ambitions tour will take him through Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York. It ends in a private house party on Oct. 9 in Troy, New York.
The 2024 presidential election is slated for Nov. 5, 2024. If Supreme chooses to run as a Libertarian again, he’ll face a field of 30 candidates who have filed so far, according to Ballotpedia.
The Libertarian party will select its presidential nominee at its national convention. The party’s convention will be held May 24 to 26, 2024, in Washington, D.C.
Below, view photos of the performances from The Magnavox’s and Scott Yoder and Supreme’s speech.
