Wendy’s quietly confirms 300 store closures next year “When I get to Congress, I’m going to bully the f–k out of the Democratic Party. Every single one of them,” he said. “I’m going to drag them through the mud. I will trip them down the stairs if I have to.” The former Army National Guardsman often campaigns in his badger attire, which is typically paired with a green marijuana themed suit, top hat, a psychedelic cape and a large plush blunt. Elyon Badger is even Smeltzer’s official name on the Michigan ballot, where he is running as a Democratic Socialist to provide universal healthcare, national high-speed train lines, along with free education for all. And he hopes the spirit of Elyon Badger – who he says is a honey badger, the widely meme-ed and formidable African predator — will help him get to Washington and accomplish all of that. “Honey badgers fight lions for fun,” he said. “They’re just the angriest animal in the savanna. They’re resistant to venom. They are creatures of tenacity and persistence.” Smeltzer insists he’s dead serious about his campaign, saying he wants to give people higher wages and time with family. ¿@elyon113.bsky.social¿ Smeltzer’s campaign persona has followed suit — his social media is filled with videos of himself raging against billionaires and establishment politicians from both sides of the aisle, and ferociously sounding off about the benefits of socialism. He is also a fierce advocate of the LGBTQ community he is a part of, saying in August when the Supreme Court was asked to overturn gay marriage that “these fascists” were coming for everyone, and that nobody in Washington was doing anything about it. “You deserve higher wages and more free time with your family,” he wrote on his official campaign page, where he says he wants “to build a government that finally works for the people, NOT THE BILLIONAIRES.” Smeltzer’s social media pages also feature countless inflammatory memes, messages and images – including a series where Elyon and other furries worship before a Satanic pentagram — and it’s not always clear when he is being serious or trolling his opponents. And that’s exactly the point, Smeltzer said, explaining that he learned the tactic from none other than the president himself. “I’m just doing a reverse-Trump at the end of the day. I’m saying outlandish leftist things to piss off the right wingers and being as flamboyant as I can,” he said. Smeltzer called Charlie Kirk “evil” after he was assassinated in September — one of numerous controversial posts. @elyon113.bsky.social “Donald Trump started his campaign by saying I could shoot somebody in the middle of an avenue and not lose a single voter. So he kind of set the political rhetoric back in 2016.” But Smeltzer’s honey badgerings have also attracted criticisms. He celebrated Charlie Kirk’s assassination in September, calling the conservative activist “evil” in one post and implying he was a Nazi in another. “If guns make us so safe, why am I dead?” read a fake Turning Point USA ad Smeltzer reposted to Bluesky. In other posts he wrote “I hate American and I love China,” “America deserved 9/11,” praised Luigi Mangione’s murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, and even wrote “kill billionaires” on Bluesky as recently as Nov. 7. Smeltzer defended such comments, however, saying he suspected Kirk himself would have gotten a kick out the way people made fun of his murder. “Charlie Kirk was a free speech absolutist, right? I think he would have laughed at some of the memes mocking his death,” he said. “You gotta take your worst moments and make them as funny as possible. Because the other side of that is crying, right?” The line between trolling and policy is blurry with Smeltzer, but he insists his congressional run is no joke. @elyon113.bsky.social The real-life troll has no intention of quitting the Elyon act if he makes it to Congress – vowing to continue wearing his outlandish outfits on the House floor, and even pair them with smoking pyrotechnics whenever he enters the chambers. “These are such deeply serious yet unserious times. You have to mix the medley with the madness,” he said. Smeltzer is facing off against six others for next year’s Democratic nomination, including former US Ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink. He also promised to keep running for Congress even if he misses the nomination in 2026 — and thinks he’s just the first of his kind on the way. “I think that there’s going to be a new wave of young people that are fed up with the bulls—t,” Smeltzer said. Filed under