‘It’s Not a Joke’: A ‘Simpsons’ Writer Holds His First Presidential Campaign Rally

On a sunny Friday afternoon in a park overlooking the Silver Lake Reservoir in Los Angeles, about 30 people—including three in costume as Uncle Sam, Darth Vader, and Elsa from Frozen—gathered to hear the first official stump speech of Dan Greaney, candidate for the 2028 US presidential election.

“My fellow Americans,” Greaney began, standing at a lectern in front of a row of American flags flapping in a light breeze. After this opening, he added, “Yeah, let’s go with that. It’s a classic.”

That self-aware little aside is the sort of thing you’d expect from a veteran TV writer who has worked on The Simpsons since its golden era in the 1990s. Apart from penning classic episodes like "Summer of 4 Ft. 2" and “King-Size Homer,” Greaney is also known for writing “Bart to the Future,” a flash-forward episode, originally aired in 2000, in which Lisa Simpson is the newly inaugurated US president and struggling with a financial mess left behind by her predecessor. “As you know, we've inherited quite a budget crunch from President Trump," she explains.

Because of that joke, Greaney is often credited with predicting the real Trump’s unlikely rise to the White House. “It was a warning to America,” he told The Hollywood Reporter early in the 2016 election cycle. “It was pitched because it was consistent with the vision of America going insane.”

For months now, Greaney has been leaning into his “Prophet” alter ego, posting Instagram videos of himself predicting the downfall of Trump and his allies in an Old Testament-style gray beard and wig. On Friday, however, he wore the more conventional suit and tie of a politician running for office. And his message was earnest.

“It's pretty ridiculous for me to be running for president,” he said. “It's the sort of thing that a cartoon dad might do—somebody like, you know, Peter Griffin,” he said with a smile, referencing the patriarch of Family Guy rather than Homer Simpson. Yet, Greaney went on to say, he was moved to stand up for the values that he believes most Americans still share. “I think democracy is under attack, and in many ways [has] been demolished by a rogue Supreme Court, by a lawless president, and by the cliques of billionaires that they work for,” he told the crowd, mostly made up of friends and colleagues in entertainment.

“It's not a joke,” Greaney said of his campaign, despite his long career in comedy going all the way back to a stint as president of the Harvard Lampoon. (He has also worked as a journalist and practiced law.) “Comedy isn't just about laughter,” he continued. “Comedy is about truth. And at The Simpsons, one of the things we all tried to do was to say the truth about American life, to look behind the humbug and hoopla and say the truth about America with love and humor in a way that people saw and connected to, and that is what I hope to do here.”

“So, yes, it is a bit absurd, but it's not a joke,” he reiterated. “And, in fact, it's an act of conscience.”

Greaney concluded his own remarks by saying, “I invite you all to join my movement and create an America that works for all, including Darth Vader.”

Running as a progressive Republican in the tradition of Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt, Greaney has laid out a platform that includes a pledge to expand the Supreme Court to 13 justices while reforming the judicial branch to limit its purview and investigating corruption among its members. He favors universal health care, a Green New Deal, and policies to increase access to affordable housing.

Greaney also advocates for a constitutional amendment to repeal Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the landmark SCOTUS decision that lifted restrictions on the political spending of corporations, and prosecution for any contributions to Trump’s campaigns that may have constituted the illegal buying of influence over the administration. In his speech, he vowed to refuse corporate PAC money—“not that it's pouring in,” he quipped.

Marple tells WIRED that she has been friends with Greaney for 15 years and came aboard the campaign in part because she “had some free time.”

“As an artist, I saw its potential to resonate,” she says. “I know that Dan cares and is sincere, and I wasn't afraid to do something that looked a little unconventional on the outside and take it really seriously. Because in some ways I feel like that's what artists do, right? They take unexpected things very seriously, and then it stirs people's hearts.”

For his part, Greaney says that kicking off the campaign “felt good,” even if he was hoping for a better turnout from social media messaging. He emphasized that he’s still learning the ropes of campaigning. Greaney plans to launch a podcast about his run, featuring politically experienced guests who can give him advice. Though there’s a lot of work ahead, he’s energized. “I love a big swing,” Greaney says. “I love a big project.”

And he says he looks forward to meeting new people, including Republicans who are alienated by MAGA extremism and may not hear much “empathy and sympathy” from Democrats. “I don't really care where it goes in the sense of, if people dislike me, people get in my face—whatever, it's fine,” Greaney says. “I can take it.”

With his optimism and continued faith in the American project, it seems no coincidence that Greaney was the Simpsons scribe who coined the fictitious word in the town of Springfield’s motto: “A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man.” Perhaps that sentiment, too, was more earnest than anyone realized.