Former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura said Monday that he is willing to step into the presidential race if Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders doesn’t win the presidential nomination.
“They’re setting the groundwork for me because if Bernie loses, by the time we get to June, how sick are the people going to be of all these people,” the former professional wrestler and Navy SEAL told the Daily Beast.
Ventura ran for governor of Minnesota in 1998 as a member of Ross Perot’s Reform Party, and served in the position until 2003. He said that Sanders and Donald Trump are “ripping him off” with their campaigns centered around radical, outsider ideas.
“See, I’m an Independent and I despise the two parties,” Ventura said. “I love what Trump’s doing to the Republicans. He’s got them in complete disarray. In fact, it looks like the WWE when you watch their debates.”
Though Ventura said he supports “the revolution of what’s happening here,” he said he wishes the media would give Trump the “benefit of the doubt” when it comes to not completely denouncing KKK grand wizard David Duke’s semi-endorsement of his presidential bid.
“Anyone can endorse you,” Ventura said. “Why is it up to the candidate to denounce any endorsement? In our country you are free to vote for whoever you want to vote for. If David Duke wants to vote for Donald Trump, he’s welcome to do that. I think the media is out of line to think a candidate immediately has to denounce somebody.”
He went to the third person to paint a vivid scene of what a Jesse Ventura presidential campaign would look like: “Jesse Ventura is a bright, shining new face who comes riding in on a white stallion to save the country.”
