A New Hampshire man attempted to register for a presidential bid in New Hampshire with the nickname “Epstein didn’t kill himself.”
Rod Webber, a New Hampshire resident and popular personality during election time, was denied his effort to register for the first-in-the-nation primary on Friday. Democratic front-runner Joe Biden and entrepreneur Andrew Yang successfully filed in New Hampshire on the same day.
Webber, who is popularly known as “Flowerman,” has long been a fixture during early voting in New Hampshire, which marked its 100th straight year as being the earliest polling place in the nation. Donning a motorcycle helmet and a sign that read “Epstein didn’t kill himself” in red paint, Webber arrived to register his candidacy in New Hampshire with $1,000 and what he thought were all other required documents and criteria. His attempt to enter “Epstein didn’t kill himself” was thwarted, however, when the New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner told him to “come back.”
“Come back with what?” Webber said to the room full of reporters. “I’ve come with the requisite money; I’m over 35; I’ve lived in the United States my entire life. I can use a nickname.” New Hampshire law does allow candidates to register with a nickname but not a political slogan or message.
Convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein died in August at age 66 while awaiting trial for trafficking, rape, assault, and many other crimes. His death in a Manhattan jail was ruled a suicide by the New York medical examiner, but rumors have swirled that he died at the order of one of his alleged high-profile associates. Epstein was reported to have had connections to former President Bill Clinton, Prince Andrew, and attorney Alan Dershowitz, among others.
“This is the second time in two election cycles that Gardner has turned me down,” Webber said to Law & Crime. “In 2015, I tried to register as ‘Flowerman’ which was what the press had referred to me as in hundreds of articles. According to state law, this is allowed. Basically, Gardner has decided he gets to choose who gets to run for president or not. In 2015, I was told if I didn’t like his decision, I could make a complaint to some committee which he happened to run.”
Webber remained steadfast in his choice to use the nickname. “It doesn’t add up,” he said. “The U.S. government has a long history of covering up crimes of a legal and moral nature.”
Registering in New Hampshire today. #Epsteindidntkillhimself pic.twitter.com/EQVK1pJNr2
— Rod Webber (@RodWebber) November 8, 2019
As press awaits @JoeBiden, this candidate is arguing with NH officials that he should be able to get on the ballot as “Epstein Didn’t Kill Himself Weber.” Then someone else walked in and asked the Epstein guy to move out of the way so he could file for the ballot. New Hampshire! pic.twitter.com/EouGWIIdAo
— Stephanie Murray (@stephanie_murr) November 8, 2019