Spike Cohen facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Spike Cohen
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Cohen in 2022
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| Born |
Jeremy Cohen
June 28, 1982 Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
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| Political party | Libertarian |
| Spouse(s) |
Tasha Cohen
(m. 2010) |
Jeremy "Spike" Cohen (born June 28, 1982) is an American political activist, business owner, and podcaster. He is known for supporting libertarian ideas, which means he believes in a lot of personal freedom and less government control.
Spike Cohen started a platform called Muddied Waters Media. He uses it to talk about ideas like individual freedom, finding solutions to problems without needing the government, and making sure the government doesn't have too much power. He also believes that private charities and community groups can help people instead of government programs. Cohen often works with local groups to teach people about libertarian ideas and help remove things that stop people from being free and successful.
In 2020, he was chosen by the Libertarian Party to run for vice president of the United States. He was the running mate for Jo Jorgensen in the 2020 election. During his campaign, Cohen talked about topics like ending special protections for police officers, making changes to the justice system, reducing how much the U.S. military gets involved in other countries, and lowering taxes and government rules.
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Early Life
Spike Cohen was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1982. His father is Jewish, and he was raised in the Jewish faith, even having a special ceremony called a bar mitzvah.
He says he picked his nickname "Spike" when he was only three years old. He chose it after a character from the 1986 children's movie My Little Pony: The Movie.
Career and Activism
In 1998, when he was 16, Cohen started learning how to design websites. Within a few years, he had a successful business doing this. In 2016, after being diagnosed with a health condition, Cohen sold his web design business. He then decided to focus on sharing libertarian messages, creating entertainment, and working as an activist.
By 2017, Cohen became a co-owner of Muddied Waters Media and started making podcasts there. He is a co-host of a show called The Muddied Waters of Freedom and also hosts his own show called My Fellow Americans.
2020 Vice Presidential Campaign
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Spike Cohen first ran as the possible running mate for presidential candidate Vermin Supreme in the 2020 Libertarian presidential primaries. He was very active in campaigning.
After Jo Jorgensen won the Libertarian presidential nomination, Cohen continued to seek the party's vice presidential nomination. Even though Jorgensen preferred someone else, Cohen won the nomination after three rounds of voting. As the Libertarian Party's vice presidential nominee, Cohen became the first Jewish person to be a vice presidential nominee for a political party since Joe Lieberman in 2000.
Political Ideas
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Cohen has said that his and Jorgensen's ideas came from the main Libertarian Party platform. These ideas include:
- Reducing the national debt by making the government smaller.
- Making big changes to the criminal justice system.
- Releasing people from jail who were put there for "victimless crimes" (actions that don't directly harm another person or their property).
- Making police forces less like military groups.
- Creating programs to make sure police officers are held responsible for their actions.
Cohen also supports presidential pardons (official forgiveness) for people like Julian Assange, Chelsea Manning, Edward Snowden, Ross Ulbricht, and Leonard Peltier.
During his vice presidential primary campaign, Cohen, who was friends with Vermin Supreme, used a lot of humor and satire. He joked about things like giving everyone free ponies, making people brush their teeth, and using "zombie power." He also joked about "killing baby Hitler" and "baby Woodrow Wilson" and promoting anarchy (a society without government). Cohen even promised that if these things didn't happen in his first 100 days as vice president, he would quit and be replaced by Baby Yoda.
After he officially became the Libertarian vice presidential nominee, Cohen explained that these funny tactics were "all fun satire to bring people in." He added that after getting people's attention, he would then share "the actual Libertarian message of self-ownership and non-aggression and voluntary solutions and property rights, and so forth." This means he used humor to get people interested, then shared his serious political beliefs.
Personal Life
Spike Cohen has been married to his wife, Tasha, since 2010. He lives in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. He is a Christian.
See also
In Spanish: Spike Cohen para niños
- Third party and independent candidates for the 2020 United States presidential election
- 2020 Libertarian National Convention
