Things have gotten so bad in the 2024 US election cycle that American YouTube celebrity MrBeast is now joking about running for president himself.
Jimmy Donaldson — whose YouTube account showing elaborate games and stunts is the most popular in the world and racks up tens of millions of views — suggested running for office last week.
Donaldson’s probably reacting to what we’ve all been watching: a race between two historically unpopular candidates getting shaken up by a disastrous debate.
President Joe Biden, the 81-year-old incumbent, has been fending off calls for him to drop out after he mumbled answers, trailed off, got confused, and stared blankly during his face-off against Donald Trump.
But Mr. Trump isn’t a spring chicken himself. The former president running to reclaim the White House is 78 years old.
Biden’s awful performance has Democrats worrying that Trump will win in a landslide, so they’re clamoring for younger blood to take over.
A last-minute change at the top of the ticket would likely mean Vice President Kamala Harris steps up.
But that didn’t stop Donaldson from floating his own platform.
In a Wednesday post on X, formerly Twitter, the 26-year-old superstar explained how he believes he could fix the country — by abandoning political parties and taking a centrist approach to everything.
Simple right?
Donaldson added he “wouldn’t be buyable” or beholden to political parties. He previously told Time Magazine that he makes $700 million but insisted that he’s not rich.
But, however serious he may or may not be, Donaldson knows his young age disqualifies him from running for the presidency — although his math is a little off.
“Anyways, we can pick this up in 15 years when I’m old enough to run haha,” the megastar continued in his post. At 26, Donaldson would technically qualify in nine years when he turns 35 in 2033.
So is MrBeast gonna run for president? Probably not. His representatives didn’t respond to a request for comment from Business Insider. But his viral post — which has already been viewed 3.7 million times, received over 4,000 comments, and been reposted 6,000 times — shows just how jaded young people are with the current political climate.
And in an America ruled by the gerontocracy, where aging politicians struggle to connect with the issues youth voters care most about, having a younger leader at the helm might not be such a bad idea.
Should that be a YouTube star? We may find out.
