Spike Cohen

Jeremy "Spike" Cohen (born June 28, 1982) is an American libertarian political activist, entrepreneur, and podcaster. He was the Libertarian Party's nominee for vice president of the United States in the 2020 election, serving as Jo Jorgensen's running mate.[1]

Spike Cohen
Cohen campaigning in 2020
Born
Jeremy Cohen

(1982-06-28) June 28, 1982
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Political partyLibertarian
Spouse(s)
Tasha Cohen
​
(m. 2010)​
WebsiteCampaign website

Early life

Cohen was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1982.[2][3] Cohen's father is Jewish, and he was raised as a Messianic Jew, including having a Bar Mitzvah.[4]

At the age of 16, Cohen began learning web design, and subsequently built a successful business within a few years.[3][5] In 2016, at the age of 33, Cohen was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. He sold his web design business and turned his focus to libertarian activism.[3] Cohen is a podcaster on Muddied Waters Media.[3] He purports to have chosen the nickname "Spike" at the age of 3, after the character from the 1986 children's film My Little Pony: The Movie.[3]

Career

2020 vice presidential campaign
Main article: Jo Jorgensen 2020 presidential campaign

Cohen ran as the proposed running mate of presidential candidate Vermin Supreme in the 2020 Libertarian presidential primaries, and was actively involved in campaigning.[6][7]

On May 23, 2020, Supreme lost the Libertarian presidential nomination to Jo Jorgensen, but Cohen remained in the race for the party's vice presidential nomination. Jorgensen showed a preference for John Monds to be her running mate over Cohen and Ken Armstrong, but despite this, after three rounds of voting, Cohen defeated Monds with 533 delegate votes to Monds' 472.[8] As the Libertarian Party's vice presidential nominee, Cohen became the first Jewish vice presidential nominee of a political party since Joe Lieberman in 2000.[4]

Political positions

Cohen asserts that his and Jorgensen's platform is derived from the Libertarian Party platform. This includes reducing the national debt by reducing the size of government, extensive criminal justice reform and the immediate release of those incarcerated for victimless crimes, demilitarization of the police and the creation of police accountability programs.[9][10][5]

Cohen thinks that Julian Assange, Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden should be pardoned.[11]

Cohen, an ally of performance artist and perennial candidate Vermin Supreme, ran during his vice presidential primary campaign on a platform promoting free ponies, mandatory tooth brushing, "zombie power", killing "baby Hitler" and "baby Woodrow Wilson", and promoting anarchy.[12][3][13] Cohen promised that should these not be achieved within the first 100 days of his vice presidency, he would resign and be replaced with Baby Yoda.[3]

After officially receiving the Libertarian vice presidential nomination, Cohen acknowledged that "The cheesy bread and the Waffle House—that's all fun satire to bring people in. Then you hit them with the actual message. The actual Libertarian message of self-ownership and non-aggression and voluntary solutions and property rights, and so forth."[14]

Personal life

Cohen has a wife, Tasha, whom he married in 2010.[15] He lives in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.[12]

See also

References
  1. Doherty, Brian (May 24, 2020). "Libertarian Party Picks Spike Cohen as Its Vice-Presidential Candidate". Reason. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  2. "Spike Cohen's Biography". Vote Smart. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
  3. "Spike Cohen for VP". Vermin Supreme 2020. Archived from the original on May 25, 2020. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  4. Fox, Blake (May 30, 2020). "Interview with Spike Cohen-The Libertarian Party's Jewish VP Nominee". The Times of Israel. Retrieved June 3, 2020.
  5. O’Sullivan, Joseph (September 7, 2020) "Libertarian Party vice presidential nominee Spike Cohen stumps in Western Washington, calls for ending ‘every single bad policy’ ", Seattle Times. Retrieved September 17, 2020
  6. Winger, Richard (January 1, 2020). "Two Libertarians Seeking National Office Campaign in Libertarian North Carolina Presidential Primary". Ballot Access News. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  7. Kilgore, Ed (May 27, 2020). "Libertarians Decide to Become a Joke in 2020". New York Intelligencer. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
  8. Winger, Richard (May 24, 2020). "Libertarian Party Nominates Spike Cohen for Vice-President". Ballot Access News. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  9. L.P. Colorado (June 5, 2020). "A Message from Spike Cohen, Jo Jorgensen's Running Mate".
  10. Houck, Taggart (May 30, 2020). "2020 Libertarian presidential ticket candidates sit down for first time with WYFF News 4". WYFF4.com. Retrieved June 1, 2020.
  11. "Spike Cohen". m.facebook.com. Retrieved January 19, 2021.
  12. Papantonis, Nicholas (January 30, 2020). "Myrtle Beach man plans to ride ponies and plutonium to 2020 VP nomination". WPDE. ABC News. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  13. Kilgore, Ed. "Libertarians Decide to Become a Joke in 2020". New York Magazine. New York Magazine. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
  14. Houck, Taggart (May 30, 2020). "2020 Libertarian presidential ticket candidates sit down for first time with WYFF News 4". WYFF4.com. Retrieved June 1, 2020.
  15. Newlands, Ettie (August 14, 2020). "Local VP candidate says Libertarians' time has come". MyHorryNews.com. Waccamaw Publishers. Retrieved August 20, 2020.
Party political offices
Preceded by
Bill Weld		 Libertarian nominee for Vice President of the United States
2020		 Most recent
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