History OneOfUs / PoliticalGeeks

* Saudi Crown Prince in an [[https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2023/10/24/more-sports/esports-world-cup-saudi/#:~:text=Prince%20Mohammed%20is%20said%20to,the%20throne%20six%20years%20ago.]] admitted that he loves playing Call of Duty games to take a break on reality.

* King Abdullah II of Jordan is an acknowledged fan of ''Franchise/StarTrek'', and guest-starred on ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' when he was still a prince.[[note]]Though since he is not a SAG-AFRA member, he only appeared in a bit role without any speaking lines.[[/note]] Later, when Creator/MichaelBay was going to film ''[[Film/{{Transformers}} Revenge of the Fallen]]'' in Jordan, he ordered 38 military helicopters to transport the equipment to Petra, allowing the film crew those overhead shots of the same ruins that appeared in ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade''. Turns out His Majesty is a big fan of ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' and loves the franchise.

* US Democrat and former US Vice President UsefulNotes/AlGore is a member of the [[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 MST3k Information Club]]. He is also an avowed fan of Music/FrankZappa, stating so on the congressional record during the PMRC hearings, and a clip of the statement was used by Zappa himself in an audio collage on the hearings, available on ''Music/FrankZappaMeetsTheMothersOfPrevention''. Additionally, he and his ex-wife, Tipper Gore, are both [[Music/TheGratefulDead Deadheads]], with Gore inviting the band to his house in the 1990s. Gore also had a couple of guest appearances on ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}''. Although how much of that is nerdity and how much is the fact that his daughter is one of the writers is uncertain. But he did include a clip of ''Futurama'' in his environmental and Academy Award winning documentary ''Film/AnInconvenientTruth'' and said that ''Futurama'' is his favorite show.

* Pope John Paul II was a soccer player during his youth. His enthusiasm for the sport never waned. In 2004 he met members of the Polish National Football Team and told goal keeper Jerzy Dudek that he was fan of them. He is also the only Pope to ever been made a Honorary Harlem Globetrotter, which happened when the sports team visited the Vatican in 2000. John Paul II is also the first pope to officially release a music album. In 1999 a CD was made, ''Abbà Pater'' (1999), which samples quotes from his speeches over liturgic music. The man was also a huge fan of the German TV detective series ''Series/{{Derrick}}'' and is said to have greatly enjoyed ''Film/TheBluesBrothers''.

* US Democrat and former US Vice President UsefulNotes/AlGore is a member of the [[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 MST3k Information Club]]. He is also an avowed fan of Music/FrankZappa, stating so on the congressional record during the PMRC hearings, and a clip of the statement was used by Zappa himself in an audio collage on the hearings, available on ''Music/FrankZappaMeetsTheMothersOfPrevention''. Gore also had a couple of guest appearances on ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}''. Although how much of that is nerdity and how much is the fact that his daughter is one of the writers is uncertain. But he did include a clip of ''Futurama'' in his environmental and Academy Award winning documentary ''Film/AnInconvenientTruth'' and said that ''Futurama'' is his favorite show.
* US Democrat and former senator of Vermont Patrick Leahy is a huge ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' fan. In fact, at his own request, he lent his voice to an episode of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'', and had cameos in ''Film/BatmanReturns'', ''Film/BatmanAndRobin'', ''Film/TheDarkKnight, and Film/TheDarkKnightRises'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4w96uPYrkAE#t=0m36s (here he is in TDK)]], and ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice''. He gets props for donating the money he earned from those gigs to the Montpellier public library.
* US Democratic politician, former Senator of Minnesota and former US Vice President Walter Mondale is a fan of ''Creator/MontyPython''.
* US Democrat and Colorado Governor Jared Polis not only fought SOPA / Protect IP when he was serving in the US House of Representatives, but is an avid ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' player who [[http://na.leagueoflegends.com/board/showthread.php?p=19572246#post19572246 posts on the official forums]]. (He claims he's partial to Anivia and Maokai, for those who are curious.)

* Canadian social democratic politician Jack Layton, once the former leader of the Canadian Official Opposition, as well as his wife and fellow member of parliament Olivia Chow, were both Trekkies. [[http://thestar.blogs.com/politics/2009/05/where-no-ndp-leader-has-gone-before.html Yes, that is indeed him at a Trekkie convention. In a custom-tailored Starfleet uniform.]]
* Former First Minister of Scotland and leader of the Scottish National Party Alex Salmond, a self-described Star Trek "obsessive," was awarded an honourary membership of the Starfleet fan organisation in 2010.

** Newt is also an avid Zoological aficionado. He grew up visiting the Philadelphia Zoo as a child and wanted to be a zookeeper growing up. When he was 12 he petitioned that his small town in Pennsylvania have a Zoo. It didn't succeed but he never outgrew his passion for Zoos.

* A 2012 candidate for the Maine state senate [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=mHsdFijn3Bc was actually attacked]] [[NewMediaAreEvil by her opponent for playing]] VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft. When she won, she promptly linked to a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHsdFijn3Bc familiar theme]] on her Facebook page.

* Former Speaker of the House and Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan is well known to be a huge nerd. He's an eager policy wonk who geeks out about policy details relating to the mathematics of the federal deficit and other issues, making him one of the best known math geeks in Congress. He is also on record calling ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail'' his favorite movie, and Music/{{Radiohead}} as his favorite band. He is also a fan of Music/RageAgainstTheMachine, which is odd given the left-leaning nature of their songs.
* US Republican and former Governor of New Jersey Chris Christie (R) is an obsessive fan of Music/BruceSpringsteen. Like world's biggest fan level of obsessive. Since the two of them have opposite politics (Springsteen is a well-known liberal Democrat, and was a prominent supporter of Barack Obama's 2008 run), all of Christie's attempts to reach out to the Boss have sunk like a lead balloon. At least until Hurricane Sandy, when Springsteen gave a few shoutouts to the Governor for his efforts to get assistance for the devastated Jersey Shore.[[note]]This did show a degree of political courage on Christie's part--the national Republican Party at that time wasn't too keen on providing that assistance, and Christie, who clearly had his eyes on the 2016 presidential nomination already (and hadn't been fatally undermined by "Bridgegate" yet), was putting himself at risk of validating right-wing accusations of being a RINO by asking for federal appropriations.[[/note]] Reports have it that the squeeing could be heard from New York to Baltimore.

* Rick Snyder, former Republican Governor of Michigan, is a huge fan of ''Franchise/StarWars'', ''Series/MythBusters'', ''Series/GoodEats'', and classic rock. He even calls himself a nerd in his own campaign tagline. With a resume like that, he naturally won the election.
* US Republican politician and Governor of Utah John Huntsman is a fan of Music/CaptainBeefheart.

* US Republican and Senator of Alaska Ted Stevens was known to be a huge comic book nerd and often wore an [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk Hulk]] tie on the Senate floor.

* US Republican, Senator of Arizona and former presidential candidate John [=McCain=] was a fan of ''[[Series/TwentyFour 24]]'' and appeared in an uncredited split-second cameo as a CTU suit. He has also said on-record that his favorite superhero is Franchise/{{Batman}}. In a speech on the floor of the Senate, [=McCain=] used a rather stiff reference to ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' to criticize some fellow Republicans for, as he saw it, playing at being heroes. The kicker was when one that he named, former Senate candidate Sharon Angle, responded in kind and took being called a Hobbit as a badge of honor. His favorite movie was ''Film/VivaZapata'', because, as he told it: "It's a heroic tale of a person who sacrificed everything for what he believed in and there's some of the most moving scenes in that movie that I've ever seen."

* US Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia is an [[https://twitter.com/ossoff/status/1238945697426268162 admitted nerd]] with a well-preserved history on Twitter [[https://mashable.com/article/jon-ossoff-old-tweets/ nerdy]] [[https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/01/10/jon-ossoff-old-tweet-twitter-imagine-dragons-456713 ramblings]] about everything from musical theater to speculating about the possibility of Thrawn being in the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy.

* Italian politician and novelist Creator/NiccoloMachiavelli, best known for ''Literature/ThePrince'', used to [[{{Cosplay}} dress up in a toga]] and pretend to be a Roman, imagining himself in the Roman Senate and other surprisingly nerdy things for a man with a MagnificentBastard reputation.

* US Republican politician and former governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney cited ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'' and ''Film/OBrotherWhereArtThou'' as his two favorite movies of all time on his Facebook page.

* US Republican politician Rudolph Giuliani, who famously was major of New York City during the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001, regularly appeared on ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' playing a cab driver complaining about New York and uttering the line "Friggin' Giuliani". He seems to like TV shows, as he played himself in episodes of ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'', ''Series/MadAboutYou'', ''Dellaventura'', ''Eddie'', ''Cosby'', ''Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child'', ''Series/LawAndOrder'' and ''Hannity''. Together with UsefulNotes/TonyBlair he is thus far the only politician to ever accept a guest spot on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', more specifically in the episode "Stop Or My Dog Will Shoot". He is also a big fan of {{Opera}} [[http://www.wqxr.org/#!/story/rudolph-giuliani-opera-lover/]]. Giuliani also played himself in comedy movies like ''Film/AngerManagement'' (2003). He also once performed in drag as Creator/MarilynMonroe at the Inner Circle dinner on March 8, 1997. Alongside actress Creator/JulieAndrews. We are NOT making this up: [[http://www.nbcnews.com/id/18108978/ns/politics-decision_08/t/rudy-giuliani-dress-will-voters-care/#.VXZdbEZ5WM8]]
* French far right politician Jean-Marie [=LePen=] reportedly loved the comic strip "Super Dupond" by Jacques Lob, Creator/{{Gotlib}}, Alexis and Jean Solé. The series is about a stereotypical chauvinist and xenophobic FrenchJerk fighting for everything French. [[MisaimedFandom [=LePen=] clearly didn't understand]] the comic strip was meant to be a {{Satire}} of such people. [[YourApprovalFillsMeWithShame Disgusted by his approval]] the creators eventually terminated the series.
* Senator Scott Ludlam, deputy leader of the Australian Greens, plays role-playing games, board games, and video games, and participated in a live D&D session at PAX Australia 2015 (he brought his own dice).
* Texas Senator and 2016 Presidential candidate Ted Cruz is a movie buff whose favorite movie is ''Film/ThePrincessBride'', which he quotes a lot. In addition, he is a huge Star Wars fan and has admitted that he cried during an emotional scene in ''The Force Awakens''. He's also a fan of ''Series/HouseOfCardsUS'', loves [[Film/TheGodfather the Godfather movies]] (all three!), and does [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_K0sRkvX4KE voice impressions]].

* Congressman Josh Harder of California is a fan of ''Franchise/StarWars'', sci-fi novels and was the President of his high school chess club. He's also ranked platinum in ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends''.

** Current Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida is a fan of ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba''.

* Canada's former Prime Minister Stephen Harper has shown his side for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCbVw03zEyU singing and playing the piano.]] He's also a Trekkie.

* Belgian Prime Minister Jean-Luc Dehaene collected political cartoons which depicted him. He even used them as illustrations in his memoirs.

* Pope John Paul II was a soccer player during his youth. His enthusiasm for the sport never waned. In 2004 he met members of the Polish National Football Team and told goal keeper Jerzy Dudek that he was fan of them. He is also the only pope to ever been made a Honorary Harlem Globetrotter, which happened when the sports team visited the Vatican in 2000. John Paul II is also the first pope to officially release a music album. In 1999 a CD was made, "Abbà Pater" (1999), which samples quotes from his speeches over liturgic music. The man was also a huge fan of the German TV detective series ''Series/{{Derrick}}'' and is said to have greatly enjoyed ''Film/TheBluesBrothers''.

* Pope Francis is a huge fan of Creator/JRRTolkien (himself a devout Catholic). He has even used ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' in his theology writings. Pope Francis is also a HUGE soccer fan, and his favorite Argentinian team is San Lorenzo de Almagro -- they attributed their 2014 win in the UsefulNotes/CopaLibertadores to him, and later met up with them in the Vatican itself. In 2015 he also became the first Pope to release a ProgressiveRock album, called "Wake Up!" It's actually an album made by rock artist Tony Pagliuca which combines audio clips from speeches by Francisus with Gregorian chants and pop rock, but the record was officially approved by the Vatican.
** He's also hinted at being a fan of the video game ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}''. In 2016, a copy of the game was given to him as a gift by Catholic gaming youtuber [=PatMat=], though as to whether he actually played the game is rather questionable to say the least, and the copy of ''Undertale'' was more of a symbolic gesture of goodwill than anything. Nevertheless, in early 2022, he actually used music from the game in a presentation.

* UsefulNotes/JuliusCaesar wrote fan fiction about Hercules (the Franchise/{{Superman}} of his day) in his youth.

* Education advocate and Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai enjoyed the first episode of ''Series/MsMarvel'' enough to [[https://www.zoomtventertainment.com/hollywood/malala-yousafzai-thanks-ms-marvel-for-a-young-superhero-whose-powers-connect-to-her-heritage-in-a-heartfelt-letter-article-92074578 send a handwritten letter]] to Creator/DisneyPlus praising the show, especially in its portrayal of a Pakistani Muslim heroine whose life reflects that heritage.