John McAfee announces he's running for President

[hacker_9]

This is so crazy... that it might just work??

If I think of McAfee three things come to mind:

    1. Creator of awful anti-virus software that slows your computer to a halt.
    2. Fled Belize on some murder scandal.
    3. Is crazy paranoid.

So if he is to have any chance he should really be spending all his money in the PR department...

[mikeash]

I think it's worth adding a 1.5. Creator of a hilarious video about how to uninstall his namesake.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpRvaQsGIY8

Anyway, given how the field looks likely to shake out, I might just vote for him as a default option.

[rednum]

Supposedly McAfee antivirus software turned awful after being taken over by Intel. I don't have a source on that, but I've seen this sentiment in a few places.

As for some murder scandal, I think it makes sense to check out his side of story: https://www.reddit.com/r/netsec/comments/3hr9f0/i_am_john_mc... https://www.reddit.com/r/netsec/comments/3hr9f0/i_am_john_mc...

The entire AMA is quite interesting, though he seems a bit paranoid indeed (on the other hand - if there's some truth in Belize government opressing him, I'm not surprised).

[pizza234]

Note that when he created scan, it was a very different software from the one which became later.

[benevol]

Relax, McAfee is just trolling. As is Trump. It's either just for the sake of trolling or some sort of distraction strategy, i.e. making all "real" (and still crazy/bad/horrible candidates) look less crazy/bad/horrible by being an even worse joke oneself.

Plus, in the US, your cat can run for President. It means absolutely nothing.

[Mtinie]

> Plus, in the US, your cat can run for President. It means absolutely nothing. Legally? Only if your cat is over the age of thirty-five and is a natural born citizen of the United States.

The age requirement is a tough one...I believe that would make your cat the Ralph Hall of feline politicans.

[ssharp]

I don't see the argument that Trump is trolling. He's spent considerable time over the past several years injecting himself into the political debate, which now seems like his clear intention was to position himself as a viable candidate for the presidency.

He's also reaching a point in his campaign where he's spending considerable time preparing himself for the primary season and will also need to start spending considerable money.

It's hard to really see why he would do all this in order to make Jeb Bush seem "less bad". If you recall the 2012 primary, there were a similar number of candidates, but the person who won was the most moderate of them, Mitt Romney. However, in 2012, there was never really on "outsider" as popular as Trump. I think it's less apt to compare Trump to Herman Cain than it is to compare him to the runs of Steve Forbes or Ross Perot.

Trump's current popularity might be completed related to the fact that he isn't coming from a political background and isn't acting like a politician. Mark Cuban said he doesn't necessarily support Trump's positions, but does support the idea that we need more people like Trump involved in politics.

[oskarth]

Trump is certainly not trolling. Don't underestimate the probability that he will win.

[cptskippy]

I haven't figured out exactly what Trump is doing but I'm sure it's in no one's best interest but his own. The sad part is, I think that's true for everyone with the exception of Bernie Sanders who, unfortunately, is about as electable as a wet blanket.

[ceejayoz]

> Relax, McAfee is just trolling. As is Trump.

That's working out pretty well for Trump. McAfee doesn't have the giant personal warchest Trump has, of course.

> Plus, in the US, your cat can run for President.

Only if it's 35 or older, which is unlikely.

[drzaiusapelord]

Trump is a fairly serious candidate now. No, I don't think he'll get the nomination, but I think there are going to be a lot of backroom deals here to make sure he doesn't run third-party and spoil the election for the GOP. I'm sure some more "legitimate" members of the GOP are trying to get his endorsement as well, which will strengthen his negotiation position.

What he's trying to get is unknown, but he may get something like a cabinet-level position. Secretary of State Donald Trump should give all voters a moment of pause.

[donatj]

I feel like a lot of what was said on https://usesthis.com/interviews/john.mcafee/ alone would lose a lot of voters.

[mkl]

Fixed link: https://usesthis.com/interviews/john.mcafee/

Is this for real? It sounds like a parody.

"My tools for national security consulting are primarily a semi-auto .22 rifle with a silencer."

"I also do my most productive security designs while having extended sex."

"My favorite real-time software is the XM153 remote control software that comes standard with the XM153 50 caliber machine gun."

[petepete]

Working link: https://usesthis.com/interviews/john.mcafee/

[notahacker]

In fairness, a man who replies to a Redditor's question on his favourite hobby with "fucking with authority" just before launching his Presidential campaign probably isn't too worried about appearing like a serious politician...

[halis]

John McAfee is certifiably nuts..he would make me more afraid for this country than Trump!

[m0v_eax]

I wouldn't go that far. At least he would probably not start a war..

[rcavezza]

This man sounds confident. "I have a huge underground following on the web," McAfee said. "I promise you I will win because I have the votes."

[_-__---]

You think that someone would do that? Just, go to the news and tell lies?

[weedthrowaway]

At least he's against government backdoors...

[btbuildem]

Oh good, there's a clown on the other side now. Reddit AMA went to his head..

[joshstrange]

No, he is in his own party. He might be crazier than Trump though....

[eli]

Other side of what?

[ohitsdom]

His website is down... not a good look for the Cyber Party candidate.

https://mcafee2016.com/

Edit: this was the link from the article. My bad, no https.

[evandev]

The site isn't https. http://mcafee16.com/

[gushie]

Just keep an eye out for any legislation that attempts to eradicate the flu... they could result in the USA grinding to a complete halt.

[debacle]

I'm glad he can have fun with life.

[mentos]

Hmm maybe this is an attempt to make any hit attempt on him an assassination..?

[happyscrappy]

Is the software so bad people are willing to murder over it?

[leojg]

I am not an US citizen, but I have more faith in him as a president than any other of the candidates, after all you should trust him he is, sort of, an engineer

[nanny]

Are you kidding? So what if he's an engineer? The guy's a lunatic and this is nothing more than some weird publicity stunt. It's a cry for attention, nothing more. This whole race has become a circus.

[JoeAltmaier]

Engineers think we need an Engineer for leader. Businessmen, a businessman. Soldiers want a soldier king. And so on.

What do we really need for a leader? A leader. A consensus builder. A decision maker. And inspiration.

[Retra]

What is it about engineers that make you think they are generally qualified to lead a country?

[leojg]

guys, come on, its gonna be fun as hell

[drivingmenuts]

Well, now we know who the 4chan candidate is ...

This is the sort of guy they can rally around and at least keep him up in the polls.

[jeletonskelly]

The Cyber Party... really? This will be entertaining at least.

[imglorp]

Yeah, that will be the limit.

You can run a right wing, loudmouth, ignorant asshole as long as he hits some of the concerns of middle America.

But you'll never run someone with his background, no matter how smart he is. The conservative voters (and I'm thinking the camo and nascar group here, ie 95 percent of the country) are still hung up on "drug bad", "white good" and other one-syllable talking points.

[mahouse]

Well, the Pirate Party exists...

[ryan-allen]

If this man or Donald Trump become POTUS I'm going to secede from Planet Earth.

[seivan]

How is Trump worse than Hillary? So Americans on either side live in some echo chamber that makes them ignore their own crazies? Maybe it's not an American trait now that I think about it :-)

[dynomight]

I like him.

[dynomight]

Whoever downvotes without an explanation is a poophead. I still like him.