Brock Pierce is ‘Shooting for Bronze’ in US Presidential Race

Shortly after Kanye West announced his candidacy, Pierce joined the race tweeting:

I, Brock Pierce, am running for President of the United States of America. #2020 #BROCKTHEVOTE https://t.co/Ede6mABpTP pic.twitter.com/oTAmxuyOdm

— Brock Pierce (@brockpierce) July 5, 2020

His campaign, which is run by the ex-business development manager of Cambridge Analytica, Brittany Kaiser, has managed to qualify on a list of ballots and even pick up a few endorsements. Most notably, investor Tim Draper who said, “Brock Pierce is the candidate we need to bring us all together, help people out of poverty, modernize government, and build a fair platform for all of us to become prosperous.” Despite such endorsements, the campaign has also been met with s fair share of criticism—more than a few responses on social media referenced Pierce’s numerous past scandals. In his latest town hall, Pierce revealed his plan to stop the major parties from winning. His primary strategy is to attempt to game the electoral college system and play the role of spoiler, blocking both Republicans and Democrats from getting the required majority. “If a third party candidate wins one state, it becomes possible no one will get an [electoral college] majority,” said Pierce. He continued, “If a third party candidate wins three states, it becomes likely that no one wins the election. So I’m not trying to win the election. I’m shooting for bronze.” U.S. law dictates that a presidential candidate must win at least 270 out of a possible 538 electoral votes to become President—so Pierce’s strategy has little to do with winning the popular vote. Instead, by winning a few states, he might make it impossible for Joe Biden or Donald Trump to reach 270. If this were to happen, the House of Representatives would then vote on the three presidential candidates. And, as Pierce was quick to point out, “Every time the house of representatives has had to choose a candidate, they’ve chosen the third-place candidate.” It should be noted, however, that this has only happened once in history. Brock Pierce isn’t the first cryptocurrency proponent to run for the President. In June 2018, John McAfee announced he would be running, although, by 2020, McAfee had suspended his campaign. Whether Pierce’s improbable plan succeeds remains to be seen.