Iowa teen running as Deez Nuts loves politics but not spotlight

By Molly Montag, Globe Gazette

WALLINGFORD - The 15-year-old Iowan running for president as 'Deez Nuts” was not happy to be talking about his candidacy.

Brady Olson loves politics but the sophomore at Graettinger-Terril Community School would rather not have reporters waiting for him to get home from band practice.

'If it were up to him, he wouldn't do anything,” said his father, Mark Olson, who went outside to break the news that a reporter wished to talk with him. 'Anything but an email interview.”

It was Brady's 12-year-old brother, Tyson, who suggested Brady run under the name of Deez Nuts, a catchphrase from a popular Internet video.

In late July, they were at their home on the family's rural Wallingford farm, two brothers just joking around.

'I guess he said something and I'm like, ‘That'd be interesting,' ” Brady said. 'And I filled out the form and it was official. Then, two days later the media found out.”

He mentioned it to the family, but no one took it seriously. They more or less forgot about it.

Then Brady heard Deez Nuts mentioned on a late-night program on Comedy Central. Soon, Rolling Stone magazine called. That's when reporters realized Brady was 15. The phone has been ringing ever since.

'It's a whirlwind,” his mother, Teresa Olson, said. She has the unenviable task of managing the chaos resulting from her son's candidacy.

That's on top of her jobs as office manager at a dental practice and overseeing vacation rentals in the nearby Iowa Great Lakes.

'It's very much a double-edged sword, because yes, Brady created this and had no intention in the world of ever wanting any publicity from it,” Teresa Olson said. 'He truly loves politics and, in his mind, he feels he can truly make a difference and change the political system to include people under 35.”

Brady's next big decision focuses on the Graettinger Labor Day Parade. He already planned to march as a percussionist in the Graettinger-Terril Titans band. Should he instead shake hands as presidential candidate Deez Nuts?

'I don't think any other candidates are going to Graettinger,” he cracked dryly. 'They don't want to sway that town of 800.”

Graettinger is four times the size of Wallingford, a city about 63 miles west of Forest City.

The family's ranch-style farmhouse is east of town, bordered by two lakes. It's about a half-hour east of Okoboji and 14 miles from the Minnesota border.

Mark Olson has a grain and cattle operation and Teresa Olson is a 4-H leader, but the boys aren't into farming.

Tyson, a seventh-grader who calls himself Brady's 'interpreter,” is as outgoing as his older brother is reserved.

Brady is the kind of kid who follows politics and runs for president as an independent.

Tyson, more likely a political operative than a candidate, likes to throw a machete and tomahawk at a target in the front yard.

Politically, Brady said he is 'half to the left (and) half to the right.”

'On the social issues I agree with the Democrats, but Republicans on the money stuff,” he said.

Naturally, he's thought about a potential running mate.

'Limberbutt McCubbins the cat, or just anyone that says yes that has a decent amount of support,” he said.

Brady has opinions of all of the candidates, especially Donald Trump.

Brady is not a fan.

The number of candidates and the way they're going at each other make this year's political race more exciting than usual, he said.

'The fact that everyone is basically taking each other out and I'm just climbing in the polls,” Brady said. 'And, if Donald runs as an independent, that just helps me even more.”

In a Public Policy Polling survey of North Carolina voters released this month, 9 percent of participants said they would vote for Nuts over Trump and Hillary Clinton. Nuts posted similar numbers in an Iowa poll earlier this month, but they slipped in Wednesday's survey of New Hampshire voters.

Realistically, Brady is too young to be president. He is hoping local voters will throw him a bone and vote for Deez Nuts anyway.

'Win a county or something,” he said, then seized on an idea. 'Win Wallingford. That can happen. ... Maybe.”