Candidates are now rising from the dead to run for president in 2016.
George Washington joined the presidential race Monday morning after making a launch speech in Colonial Williamsburg. His official slogan “It starts here,” harkens back to America’s colonial roots.
“America, I am your father,” Washington states in in the mock campaign video, which emphasizes that America’s issues today aren’t so different from the issues of 1776. Washington highlights taxation, race relations, foreign policy, gun control, religious liberty and prison reform as issues he has experience tackling.
Part satirical, part a promotional campaign for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, the campaign actually has many of the trappings of a real presidential run: a website, social media presence and a field director. The campaign’s letterhead even riffs at Republican frontrunner Jeb Bush’s slogan “Jeb!” by referring to Washington as “George! Washington.”
Washington plans to visit Iowa and New Hampshire in the coming weeks and will even deliver the opening speech at the Des Moines Register State Fair Soapbox Series at the Iowa State Fair. The Washington impersonator concludes the video by mounting his horse and shouting “On to Des Moines!”
