John Washington III Asks When He and His Family Gave Their Consent to Be Spoken For

Presidential candidate John Washington III opened a written statement on Tuesday with a direct question for the United States government and every state government in America: “Who gave you the right to speak for me and my family without my consent?”

John Washington III wrote that the Declaration of Independence says governments get their just powers from the consent of the governed. “So when did I give my consent?” John Washington III wrote. “When did my family give theirs? Who gave a small group of people the authority to speak for every American?”

John Washington III argued that a group that makes rules for itself speaks for that group, not for everyone else. He compared the idea to mafia families and their own codes, asking whether one family can walk into another home and declare that everyone there belongs to them. “No!” he wrote.

Being born under a government, John Washington III wrote, does not mean he personally agreed to every decision it makes. “My children and I have constitutional rights,” he wrote. “Government must not confuse legal authority with unlimited control!”

John Washington III closed by demanding an accounting from anyone who claims to speak for him: show where he agreed, show how they are representing his family, and answer to the people whose lives their decisions affect. “That's the ground I'm standing on!” he wrote.