Dan Greaney helped write a cartoon predicting a Trump presidency 26 years ago—now he wants to star in a real-life sequel. Greaney, a longtime writer for The Simpsons, has launched a presidential bid as what his campaign calls a "progressive Republican in the tradition of Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt," KTLA reports. A Harvard graduate and Massachusetts native, he's also written for The Office and Borat, and once reported from all 50 states for USA Today, an experience he says convinced him the country faces a mounting "crisis of isolation and disconnection."
He's best known for the 2000 Simpsons episode "Bart to the Future," which imagines Lisa Simpson becoming president after "President Trump" leaves the US completely bankrupt. In 2016, months before Trump became the GOP nominee, Greaney told the Hollywood Reporter it was a "warning to America" and "the logical last stop before hitting bottom." "What we needed was for Lisa to have problems that were beyond her fixing, that everything went as bad as it possibly could, and that's why we had Trump be president before her," he said. His new campaign leans on his "prophet" reputation, saying that his work has "resurfaced in public discourse as reality has edged closer to parody."
Since last year, Greaney—who has "occasionally voted Republican," according to a campaign press release—has been posting "prophet" videos predicting Trump's downfall and urging a "moral and cultural reckoning." His platform mixes calls to "restore democratic norms" with left-leaning policies such as universal health care and the Green New Deal, packaged as an effort to reach across ideological lines and "build an America that works for all."
- In a campaign video, Greaney rips off his prophet robes to reveal a suit and tie, Rolling Stone reports. "The United States was founded on a transcendental insight that all men are created equal, but now Trump, Vance, the billionaires, careerists, and cowards in both parties have turned their backs on it. It's money, power, and security for them, but not for you," he says in the video. "In America, the government is supposed to work for everyone: democracy for all, accountability for all, prosperity for all. We must restore this."
- In keeping with his day job, he signs off with a gag: "As to what happens next… we'll just have to wait and see. You will, at least. I actually do know how it turns out."
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