MAGA Shaman wants to run for Congress: 'Maligned and skewered by a corrupt system'

One of the most recognizable defendants from the January 6 melee has expressed an interest in running for Congress.

Jacob Chansley, formerly known as the QAnon Shaman, is the man who infamously strutted throughout the Capitol on January 6, 2021, wearing patriotic face paint and bull horns but no shirt. He eventually pled guilty to civil disorder and violent entry into the Capitol and served a grueling 27 months behind bars, almost 11 of which were in solitary confinement.

Chansley was given early release back in March, just a few weeks after Tucker Carlson aired surveillance footage from that day on his erstwhile Fox News program. That footage seemed to exonerate Chansley.

Chansley, an Arizona native, spent the next several months at a halfway house in Phoenix. Whether he remains at the facility at this time is unclear.

What is clear is that Chansley wants to make a grand return to Congress, this time as an elected representative. Using the name Jacob Angeli-Chansley, Chansley filed a statement of interest on Thursday to run as a Libertarian for the 8th Congressional District seat in Arizona, currently occupied by Republican Rep. Debbie Lasko. Lasko, who was first elected to office in 2018, has announced she will not seek re-election in 2024.

Chansley, now 36, then spoke with Newsmax about his reasons for running. "We're not really seeing accurate representation whatsoever in Congress," Chansley said, "and this is because they are representing the lobbyists and the non-governmental organizations."

Chansley told Newsmax that his platform includes supporting single-bill voting laws, term limits for congressmen and their staff, "criminalizing" lobbying, and assessing "seven-figure" fines and "expulsion prosecution" for insider trading. He claimed that these ideas will likely appeal to both Republicans and Democrats.

The Newsmax hosts pressed Chansley several times about his rather awkward introduction to the American public. And while federal and Arizona law do not prohibit people with felony convictions from serving in Congress, Chansley will still have a tough time convincing voters to take him seriously, the hosts indicated.

But Chansley was not deterred by their dour predictions. "You could choose to look at me as a felon," he countered, "... or you could choose to look at me as I am: a person that was maligned and skewered by a corrupt system." Chansley insisted to the hosts that he was not violent on January 6, never stole anything from the Capitol, and in fact paired up with the Capitol Police to help keep the peace both inside and outside the Senate chamber.

And while he is apparently running as a Libertarian, he has seemingly not abandoned his support for MAGA or former President Donald Trump. When asked whether he holds Trump partially responsible for his lengthy prison sentence, Chansley balked. "No, no, I do not, and I think that any attempt to try to paint anything that happened that day onto the president or try to paint him with that broad brush is just mockingbird media and corrupt DOJ talking points," he replied.

"What we're talking about here is optics," he continued. "And based on the mockingbird media, neurolinguistic programming, ... critical-factor bypass, and all that kind of psychological warfare, basically, you can paint anybody to be anything."

Chansley, who seemed to embrace Newsmax's characterization of him as the "MAGA Shaman," added that his unusual costume on January 6 showed the American people that he is an honest man who has nothing to hide. "For literally decades, here in the United States of America," Chansley said, "we have had swindlers in suits and liars in ties stealing our tax dollars."

"If it takes horns and face paint with no shirt to end up disrupting the establishment ... then I'm fine with that," he continued.

He also said he isn't accepting "campaign funds" per se since "money is part of the problem in politics." He is, however, selling merchandise on his website, forbiddentruthacademy.com, which also offers a link to his GiveSendGo account. All proceeds from the website, he said, will "help put food in my belly while I speak for the American people."

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