Deez Nuts 2016: Prank Candidate Now Drawing More Interest Than Hillary Clinton

Deez Nuts is making a huge move in the 2016 election.

The fictional presidential candidate, slipped into the race by a politically frustrated Iowa teenager, has found a foothold with a large section of the American public turned off by the current slate of candidates. Public Policy Polling found that Mr. Nuts registered at 9 percent in North Carolina, Gawker noted, and across the internet interest continues to rise.

It could be that people are trying to find out if Deez Nuts is a real person (it’s not), or are wondering where his name’s reference comes from (according to Re/Code, the first appearance seems to be a track from the iconic Dr. Dre album The Chronic in 1992), but he has somehow become the most searched for candidate in a race that includes Donald Trump.

Now Deez Nuts has surpassed even Hillary Clinton in voter interest, Re/Code reported, “Google Trends says more people are interested in fake candidate Deez Nuts, who was polled at 9 percent in North Carolina by Public Policy Polling. Many local news stations covered candidate Nuts’s rise, which was very funny because news anchors were forced to say “Deez Nuts” on live television. In fact, people are so interested in Deez Nuts, it’s diverting a lot of attention away from the Trump campaign.”

The young man who registered Deez Nuts as a candidate, 15-year-old Brady Olson, said he did so out of frustration with the way the race has turned out so far. He added that he was “trying to break the two-party system.”

When asked why he decided to “run for president,” Olson told Rolling Stone, “Because I really didn’t want to see Clinton, Bush, or Trump in the White House, so I guess I’m just trying to put up a fight. I’m fifteen, so I haven’t been registered yet. I side more with the Libertarian Party.”

Olson said he also wanted to register as a protest against the system, which apparently allows anyone to run even if they haven’t put in the necessary work.

“The fact that if I can fill out a form so vague that it doesn’t include your age, or the fact that all get accepted even if they’re only partially filled, anyone can run,” he said.

Voters could be seeing a lot more of Deez Nuts in the future. When asked how far he was willing to take the joke, Olson answered, “As far as America wants to take it.”

[Image by Scott Olsen/Getty Images]