The Guy Who Threw His Shoes At George W. Bush Is Running For Office In Iraq
Not sure about his platforms, but he sure has sole.
Here's the vantage point most people will recognize him from: his role as The Shoe Thrower in the George W. Bush Shoeing Incident of 2008.
Yes, it was a little less than 10 years ago when the world was witness to this iconic moment.
"This is a farewell kiss from the Iraqi people, you dog," he yelled in Arabic while chucking his footwear at Bush. "This is for the widows and orphans and all those killed in Iraq," he managed to get out as the second shoe flew, before then-prime minister Nouri al-Maliki's bodyguards tackled him.
"When I threw the shoe in the face of the criminal, George Bush, I wanted to express my rejection of his lies, his occupation of my country, my rejection of his killing my people," he would later say. "My rejection of his plundering the wealth of my country, and destroying its infrastructure. And casting out its sons into a diaspora."
CBS / Via giphy.com
In the aftermath, Zaidi was arrested and sent to prison for attacking a visiting head of state. He spent nine months in the big house — getting let go early for good behavior — before leaving the country for a while in 2009.
He first returned to the country in 2011, and since then has kept a relatively low profile, working with the al-Zaidi Foundation, which says its goal is "to find a safe atmosphere for the children who lost their parents during the American occupation on Iraq."
Hadi Mizban / AP
Now Zaidi is hoping to help set the course for Iraq's future. How's that for a potential reversal of fortune?
But, according to his announcement video, he's definitely running for the Council of Representatives, the country's parliament.
You'd be forgiven for getting confused about who the current president of Iraq is and who wants the gig: The role is extremely ceremonial.
The president, under the Iraqi Constitution, "safeguards the commitment to the Constitution and the preservation of Iraq's independence, sovereignty, unity, the security of its territories in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution." A maximum of two, four-year terms keeps anyone from staying in place for too long.
Marwan Ibrahim / AFP / Getty Images
This guy, Fuad Masum, is the current office holder, having taken up the job in 2014. If our math checks out, that means he's still eligible to be president once again.
Stringer / AFP / Getty Images
Iraq chooses its president in an even more roundabout way than the US does: The Iraqi parliament selects both the prime minister, who actually runs the government, and the president.
That means the next election, due to take place May 12, will decide the entirety of Iraq's national government, and if Zaidi wins, he'll get to help choose the next president.
BuzzFeed News has reached out to Zaidi's campaign for more information about his platform and just which coalitions he's hoping to work with in parliament.
(We've also reached out to the George W. Bush Presidential Center for comment on the heels of this news.)
Unfortunately, he won't have the infamous shoes to use as a campaign prop — they were destroyed by US and Iraqi security back in 2008.
(H/T @ghoshworld for alerting us to this campaign and @mai_alsadany for letting us know what Zaidi is actually running for.)
Evan Vucci / ASSOCIATED PRESS
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