Simpsons Writer Who 'Predicted' Trump Now Running for President Himself
Dan Greaney wrote The Simpsons episode in 2000 that referenced a "President Trump" — a detail that made him briefly famous when Trump actually won the White House 16 years later. Now the 61-year-old writer and producer is running for president himself.
Greaney announced his 2028 candidacy last week, describing himself as "a progressive Republican in the tradition of Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt." His campaign announcement video leans hard into his reputation as the show's resident prophet — he appears in a wizard costume and robe before transforming into a clean-cut politician to deliver his actual pitch.
"Trump, Vance, the billionaires, careerists, and cowards in both parties have turned their backs on the United States," he says in the video. "It's money, power, and security for them, but not for you."
He closed the announcement with a wink at his own mythology — "As to what happens next… we'll just have to wait and see. You will, at least. I actually do know how it turns out."
The Episode That Started Everything
The 2000 Simpsons episode "Bart to the Future" depicts Lisa Simpson as president of the United States in a flash-forward, struggling with a budget crisis left behind by her predecessor — referenced only as "President Trump." Greaney wrote the episode. When Trump won in 2016 the clip went everywhere and Greaney found himself doing interviews about what he'd actually intended.
His answer was consistently more sobering than the "prediction" narrative suggested. The episode wasn't a prophecy — it was a warning. The writers needed someone who represented America hitting absolute rock bottom before Lisa had to clean up the mess.
"That just seemed like the logical last stop before hitting bottom," Greaney told The Hollywood Reporter in 2016. "It was pitched because it was consistent with the vision of America going insane."
He also admitted in 2016 he never actually thought Trump would win — and he wondered, with genuine discomfort, whether decades of anti-establishment satire from shows like The Simpsons had contributed to the cultural conditions that made Trumpism possible.
"I blame the culture of comedy," he said at the time. "We seem to have blown it up."
What He's Actually Running On
The platform is a mix that doesn't fit neatly into either party's current lane. Greaney is calling for universal healthcare, the Green New Deal, restored democratic norms, and broad accountability — all under the umbrella of what his campaign describes as "an America that works for all." He's framing the Republican label as an attempt to reach voters across ideological lines rather than preach to an existing base.
He has also written for The Office and Borat, won four Emmy Awards, went to law school, passed the bar, and admits to having "occasionally voted Republican." Whether any of that makes him a viable candidate is a different question — but as campaign launches go, it's considerably more entertaining than most.
The 2028 Field
Greaney is among the first to formally declare for 2028. On the Republican side the presumed frontrunners are Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio — both figures from the current administration with significantly more conventional political infrastructure than a Simpsons writer in a wizard costume.
Then again, in 2000, a Simpsons writer put "President Trump" in a script as a joke about America losing its mind. That turned out to be more accurate than anyone wanted it to be.
Make of that what you will.
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