Jeremy "Spike" Cohen (born June 28, 1982) is an American

libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...

political activist, entrepreneur, and podcaster. He was the Libertarian Party's nominee for vice president of the United States in

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

, serving as Jo Jorgensen's running mate.

Early life

Cohen was born in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...

in 1982. Cohen's father is Jewish, and he was raised as a

Messianic Jew Messianic Judaism ( he, or , ) is a modernist and syncretic movement of Protestant Christianity that incorporates some elements of Judaism and other Jewish traditions into evangelicalism. It emerged in the 1960s and 1970s from the earlier ...

, including having a Bar Mitzvah. 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''.

Career

In 1998, at the age of 16, Cohen began learning web design and subsequently started a profitable business within a few years.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 ''The Seattle Times'' is a daily newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1891 and has been owned by the Blethen family since 1896. ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Washington st ...

''. Retrieved September 17, 2020 In 2016, after being diagnosed with

multiple sclerosis Multiple (cerebral) sclerosis (MS), also known as encephalomyelitis disseminata or disseminated sclerosis, is the most common demyelinating disease, in which the insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged. This d ...

, Cohen sold his web design business and turned his focus to

activism. In 2017, Cohen retired from web design to focus on Libertarian messaging, entertainment, and activism. This culminated with him becoming the co-owner of, and a podcaster on, Muddied Waters Media. He is the co-host of ''The Muddied Waters of Freedom'', and the host of ''My Fellow Americans''.

2020 vice 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. 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. 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 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

Political positions

Cohen has asserted that his and Jorgensen's platform was 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 A victimless crime is an illegal act that typically either directly involves only the perpetrator or occurs between consenting adults. Because it is consensual in nature, whether there involves a victim is a matter of debate. Definitions of vi ...

, demilitarization of the police and the creation of police accountability programs. Cohen supports presidential pardons for

Julian Assange Julian Paul Assange ( ; Hawkins; born 3 July 1971) is an Australian editor, publisher, and activist who founded WikiLeaks in 2006. WikiLeaks came to international attention in 2010 when it published a series of leaks provided by U.S. Army inte ...

, Chelsea Manning,

Edward Snowden Edward Joseph Snowden (born June 21, 1983) is an American and naturalized Russian former computer intelligence consultant who leaked highly classified information from the National Security Agency (NSA) in 2013, when he was an employee and su ...

Ross Ulbricht Ross William Ulbricht (born March 27, 1984) is an American serving life imprisonment for creating and operating the darknet market website Silk Road from 2011 until his arrest in 2013. The site operated as a hidden service on the Tor network an ...

, and Leonard Peltier. Cohen, a former ally of performance artist and perennial candidate Vermin Supreme, ran during his vice presidential primary campaign on a largely satirical platform promoting free ponies, mandatory tooth brushing, "zombie power", killing "baby Hitler" and "baby Woodrow Wilson", and promoting

anarchy Anarchy is a society without a government. It may also refer to a society or group of people that entirely rejects a set hierarchy. ''Anarchy'' was first used in English in 1539, meaning "an absence of government". Pierre-Joseph Proudhon adopted ...

. 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 Grogu, colloquially referred to as Baby Yoda, is a character from the '' Star Wars'' Disney+ original television series ''The Mandalorian''. He is a toddler member of the same species as the ''Star Wars'' characters Yoda and Yaddle, with whom he ...

. After officially receiving the Libertarian vice presidential nomination, Cohen acknowledged that such humor tactics were "all fun satire to bring people in", adding "(t)hen 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."

Personal life

Cohen has been married to his wife, Tasha, since 2010. He lives in

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina Myrtle Beach is a resort city on the east coast of the United States in Horry County, South Carolina. It is located in the center of a long and continuous stretch of beach known as "The Grand Strand" in the northeastern part of the state. Its y ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cohen, Spike 1982 births Living people 2020 United States vice-presidential candidates Activists from South Carolina American anarcho-capitalists American podcasters Businesspeople from South Carolina Jewish American candidates for Vice President of the United States Libertarian Party (United States) vice presidential nominees Messianic Jews Politicians from Baltimore People from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina People with multiple sclerosis South Carolina Libertarians