Strict Standards: Only variables should be assigned by reference in /home/noahjames7/public_html/modules/mod_flexi_customcode/tmpl/default.php on line 24

Strict Standards: Non-static method modFlexiCustomCode::parsePHPviaFile() should not be called statically in /home/noahjames7/public_html/modules/mod_flexi_customcode/tmpl/default.php on line 54

Strict Standards: Only variables should be assigned by reference in /home/noahjames7/public_html/components/com_grid/GridBuilder.php on line 29
Brian Finke Update: 9:19 am ET 09/09/2015 Several hours after this story was published, John McAfee filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to run for President. He also launched an official campaign website.

If you didn’t think the 2016 election season could get any more batshit crazy than it already is, now, John McAfee—the self-described “eccentric millionaire,” who founded the anti-virus software company McAfee, and who once played Russian roulette with a loaded gun while WIRED writer Joshua Davis stood by—says he is considering joining the 2016 presidential race. But first, he says he’s hoping to persuade someone who is “smarter and more charismatic” than he is to run with his backing.

“I personally am still in a quandary about whether to run myself or find someone else for my party,” McAfee tells WIRED. “My advisors are pressing me to run.”

McAfee, who won’t name his advisors or his prospects for stand-ins, says he’s been mulling a run for some time at the urging of his online followers. “I have many thousands of emails saying please run for President,” he says. “It’s not something I would just choose to do on my own.”

But McAfee says he does believe the government is broken, largely because its leaders don’t understand technology as well as, well, he does. He points to the recent hacks of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management and Homeland Security as proof.

“Things like this cannot happen or should not happen,” he says. “It’s clear that the leadership of our country is illiterate on the fundamental technology that supports everything in life for us now, that is cyber science, our smartphones, our military hardware, our communications.”

McAfee argues that the fact that the government is urging tech companies like Apple to create so-called “backdoors” into their systems that would allow the government to collect information on users is another sign that public servants just don’t get it. “That means allowing hackers easy access to anybody’s data,” he says.

The prospect of a President John McAfee may sound absurd to you. If it doesn’t, please recall that McAfee was once arrested in Guatemala after fleeing Belize, where he was wanted for questioning by local police for the murder of his neighbor. No charges were brought against him in the murder case, but McAfee’s backstory is still a tad colorful for politics, even in the age of Trump.

Yet the privacy arguments he’s making aren’t altogether unlike the ones that Apple and other tech companies have been lobbying for in Congress.

Like Lawrence Lessig, the Harvard professor who is running for president to push an agenda for campaign finance reform, McAfee seems far more concerned with having his voice heard on one particular issue than with taking a seat in the Oval Office.

Which may explain why McAfee is seeking a stand-in for his presidential run. He also said he didn’t want to discuss other elements of his platform until he, er, knows whether he or someone else is going to be candidate. That announcement should come within the next 48 hours, according to McAfee. As for whether Donald Trump’s surprising popularity had anything to do with his presidential ambitions, McAfee said, “I have great respect for the man but he has nothing to do with my decision to run.”

Go Back to Top. Skip To: Start of Article.
Gallery ImageGallery ImageNow You Can Get an Entire Hillary Clinton Emoji KeyboardFeatureArt_loek_van_der_Klis_UmerusFeatureArt_loek_van_der_Klis_UmerusA8L140001_full-1Twitter_donation2_V321.01.FF.McAfee.DH.59838.Wired_McAfee_036_FinalScreen-Shot-2015-08-18-at-2.41.07-PM-tonedLawrence Lessig.Gallery ImageGallery ImageGallery ImageGallery ImageNow You Can Get an Entire Hillary Clinton Emoji KeyboardNow You Can Get an Entire Hillary Clinton Emoji KeyboardFeatureArt_loek_van_der_Klis_UmerusA8L140001_full-1A8L140001_full-1Now You Can Get an Entire Hillary Clinton Emoji KeyboardNow You Can Get an Entire Hillary Clinton Emoji KeyboardNow You Can Get an Entire Hillary Clinton Emoji KeyboardNow You Can Get an Entire Hillary Clinton Emoji Keyboard
Gallery ImageNow You Can Get an Entire Hillary Clinton Emoji KeyboardA8L140001_full-1
Now You Can Get an Entire Hillary Clinton Emoji KeyboardA8L140001_full-1
Gallery ImageGallery ImageGallery ImageFeatureArt_loek_van_der_Klis_UmerusA8L140001_full-1
Gallery ImageNow You Can Get an Entire Hillary Clinton Emoji Keyboard

Read more http://feeds.wired.com/c/35185/f/661370/s/4a12bc4e/sc/7/l/0L0Swired0N0C20A150C0A90Chillary0Eclinton0Eemoji0Ekeyboard0C/story01.htm


Strict Standards: Only variables should be assigned by reference in /home/noahjames7/public_html/modules/mod_flexi_customcode/tmpl/default.php on line 24

Strict Standards: Non-static method modFlexiCustomCode::parsePHPviaFile() should not be called statically in /home/noahjames7/public_html/modules/mod_flexi_customcode/tmpl/default.php on line 54

Find out more by searching for it!

Custom Search







Strict Standards: Non-static method modBtFloaterHelper::fetchHead() should not be called statically in /home/noahjames7/public_html/modules/mod_bt_floater/mod_bt_floater.php on line 21