John McAfee, a developer of the first commercially-available anti-virus program and the current CEO of MGT Capital Investments believes that his brand of unvarnished Libertarianism will appeal to voters increasingly frustrated with the stagnancy and corruption of the two-party system.
The often-unhinged character continues to seek the Libertarian Party nomination, despite a personal history of arrest, violence, explosions and Hunter S. Thompson-level drug use. The raconteur’s long stay in Belize became the inspiration for a sex-obsessed, insane, gun-wielding character in the popular Jonathan Franzen novel ‘Purity.’
Yet the self-described candidate, now 70, who began his bid for office with an image of himself with bath salts and scantily clad women, objects to the garden-variety insanity of presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump and the limited choices of the two-party system.
McAfee calls for a full decriminalization of drugs, expanded defensive actions against cyberwarfare, religious liberty, and an end to the social safety net, which he views as state-sponsored theft.
The entrepreneur was interviewed on Monday by Loud & Clear’s Brian Becker, discussing his political bid, the ever-decreasing differences between mainstream Democrats and Republicans, and the heroism of Edward Snowden.
Why are you running for president?
The Libertarian Party candidate, who stated that he has lived by Libertarian principles his entire life, detailed a few of his more important ones: (1) Your mind and body belong to yourself; (2) Do not harm one another; (3) Do not steal; and (4) Contracts are paramount, as your word is your bond.
"I have tried to live by these principles from the beginning of time, my time anyways, which is why I have been arrested so many times," said McAfee. "If I choose to smoke weed, I think that is my business, I refuse to hide. I don’t smoke anymore, I haven’t for 32 years. When I hit 38 I stopped doing all drugs except for alcohol and cigarettes, and I didn’t hide it because if we hide the things that we believe in then we put the burden on our children and grandchildren."
You claim Hillary Clinton is the Establishment, and Donald Trump is a demagogue selling bigotry to white workers, and that they are the same – is that what you believe?
"I doubt that many people would disagree with what you just quoted," said McAfee. "If you have seen Donald Trump tell supporters to beat up protesters saying that 'I will pay your legal fees' and if you’ve watched the waffling of Clinton then you cannot deny that those are true statements."
"In terms of them being the same you may take issue on that, but basically Donald Trump thinks that the art of the business deal is how things should be run and Hillary Clinton is, in fact, the establishment politician, and there is no difference between those things," said McAfee. "They are both based on power. Power is not what we want in politicians and if you are seeking power then start a business or go get a private army and invade Uruguay, I don’t know."
What do you think of President Obama calling Edward Snowden a traitor?
"If you are a citizen, he [Snowden] told you something that you needed to know – that the government thinks that you are the enemy and they are spying on us," said McAfee. "Good God! If somebody who tells me that and it is true, then they are a hero. Did he not risk his life? Did he not risk his freedom? He is labeled an enemy of the state, but this [Snowden] is a hero. To the government, of course, he is a traitor because the government’s goals were thwarted, but not if you are an ordinary citizen."
Why do you think there has been so much chaos in this presidential election?
The entrepreneur suggested that Trump has merely mastered the art of tapping into people’s anger, with inflammatory statements on immigration, Muslims, and violence at rallies.
"One thing that is clear is that people are angry, otherwise Trump wouldn’t be where he is. Why is he the nominee? Because he understands full well that if you act insane, if you say 'Beat that guy up and I’ll pay your legal fees,' then you will get eyeballs," said McAfee.
"On the Democratic side, the party is moving much closer to Lenin, the first ruler of [modern] Russia, in that the inequality and unfairness of life, that, if you don’t have a job, you should be compensated, which is just Communism," said McAfee. "I won’t say that Bernie [Sanders] is a Communist, but you cannot deny that he has some severe socialist tendencies. We have got these two things, but they really aren’t that different because the ultimate goal is power."
"When any of these people get into office they are still part of the machine that bred them; the Democratic machine or the Republican machine, which to me is really just the same machine, that is separated into two, in order to create an illusion of choice," said McAfee.
Second Amendment Bombshell
"If Hillary and the Democrats get into power we probably won’t have guns in four years," declared McAfee. Becker countered that "the US has four-hundred million guns and there are only 310 million people, it seems like the gun genie is out of that bottle, I don’t see guns going away."
McAfee responded that, "Obama just passed a law that is seemingly illegal, that says nobody can now sell you a gun or give you a gun without an FSA license. Where are you going to get guns legally now?"
"It is a bizarre situation. You think it is impossible? You need to believe me," McAfee pleaded, "you need to read some history, and there is nothing impossible in this world. If you would have said in 1940 that it is impossible that a government would have killed 10 million people of the Judaic faith," asserted McAfee, using a wildly inaccurate World War II casualty estimate to clarify his concern that candidate Clinton would strip away the Second Amendment.
"But, I don’t think there is much difference between the Republicans and the Democrats – the Republicans don’t want you to take any kind of drug that they deem illegal, and we know that doesn’t work, because of prohibition, when alcohol became illegal to possess and consume, but under those laws more alcohol was consumed in this country," said McAfee.
How does your controversial nature stack up to Donald Trump?
"I am not as crazy as I make myself out to be," remarked McAfee.
Becker flagged the comment, observing, "Wait a second, that is what Donald Trump says – 'I’m not crazy, I’m only playing a role and I can act presidential.'"
"I have been talking to you for almost an hour and have I sounded crazy?" the former fringe survivalist asked. "The difference between Donald Trump and myself is that once I get the eyeballs, I turn sane. I turn the way that I have been the past hour with you. This is how it is going to be done, it cannot be done in any other way in this age of madness."
"Yes, if I had to walk naked in the streets with a sign then that would be cool and then I would put on a rag and stalk talking sanely and rationally and say – 'People, look around you at what is happening and wake up and take some responsibility for your life and do something,'" elaborated McAfee. "If I choose insanity as a way to get eyeballs, I do that because I’m good at it."
