‘I want the stage’: McAfee will run for president ‘in exile,’ with 1,000s of masked doppelgangers

Antivirus magnate and cryptocurrency evangelist John McAfee says he will run for president in 2020 in exile, using masked doppelgangers to campaign in the US. McAfee has been filmed sailing to Venezuela, fleeing indictment.

In a series of Twitter videos posted on Tuesday and Wednesday, McAfee claimed to fleeing felony charges brought by the IRS. McAfee, his wife Janice, and four campaign workers have been indicted “for unspecified IRS crimes of a felonious nature,” he explained, adding that he had “not paid taxes in eight years.”

The videos were shot on a yacht that McAfee called the "freedom boat," which will now double as his 2020 campaign headquarters. The eccentric cybersecurity guru announced his intention to run for the nation’s highest office last June, on a platform to “serve the crypto community.”

“I will not allow them to imprison me and shut my voice down,” McAfee explained. “Today, crypto community, we are at war, and I am on the front lines.”

McAfee plans on having thousands of volunteers print masks of his face, which will be worn by “road warriors” in “parks, street corners, (and) restaurants all around America.” McAfee will address these supporters over loudspeakers.

Another group of volunteers will wear McAfee’s masks to conferences and campaign events; speaking, shaking hands, and standing in for the man himself.

Where McAfee himself will be during this campaign is unclear. According to his Twitter feed, the crypto candidate is currently en route to Venezuela, which due to the current political climate is most likely beyond the reach of US law enforcement. According to the latest posts, the craft is currently somewhere near the Bahamas.

It is unclear if McAfee is being completely honest about the yacht’s location, given the fact that US authorities could simply intercept the “freedom boat” before it docks in Venezuela. “A lot of people are saying they have never seen anyone live-cast their evasion of US authorities before, but why not?” McAfee said. “I have nothing to hide… I don’t have time or energy for lies and deceptions.”

This campaign-in-exile is McAfee’s second attempt to run for the White House. In 2016, the crypto enthusiast lost out to former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson in his bid to be the candidate for the Libertarian Party.

The 73-year-old tech entrepreneur has recently emerged as a distinguished advocate for digital currencies, including bitcoin, which have experienced swift growth and extreme volatility in recent years. McAfee’s forays into politics have been aimed at promoting cryptocurrency, which he sees as a serious challenger to government-backed fiat currency.

“Remember: I do not want to be president! I just want the stage. I just need to run. I did it once before in the Libertarian Party. Who cares whether I can?? I'm f**king doing it now!!” he tweeted on Tuesday.

Apart from his career as a tech entrepreneur, McAfee hit the headlines in 2012 after he was declared a person of interest in a murder case in Belize, Central America. However, the businessman, who was neither arrested nor charged with the crime, left the country and moved to the US.

Although it is unlikely to be among his campaign issues, McAfee has also emerged as a champion of man-whale love:

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