Comrade Cat Runs For President In Russia

So, you thought you saw everything watching the antics of the 2016 American Presidential race, huh? Nope…not quite.

While talks of Russia’s involvement and ‘tampering’ with the election swirl through the holiday air like candy canes and sugar plums, a Scottish Fold/Siamese cat from Barnaul, Russia has thrown his cat hat into the upcoming Russian presidential race!

This is not Barsik’s first foray into the world of politics. Last year, Barsik joined six other human candidates for the position of town mayor, via Russia’s social media site VKontakte. In a satirical attempt at a feline upset, Barsik was added to the mayoral ticket, and in an online poll, beat all six of his fellow candidates with a whopping 90% of the vote. (Seriously, how low is one’s self-esteem after a CAT is the preferred mayor?!)

Though Barsik wasn’t officially added to the ballot, and therefore couldn’t be sworn in, he still remained a very outspoken political commentator through his VKontakte page, typically taking a conservative stance and calling many liberal candidates ‘pseudo-leaders.’

Related: Town Goes To The Dogs as Canine Mayor Is Reelected

Now, in an attempt to prove that a cat is a better candidate choice than Alexey Navaln, who is the liberal opponent of President Vladimir Putin, Barsik announced on his social media page that he’d be running for president as well, and supported by his team from the (un)officially recognized Party of Barsik the Cat (The PKB).

Reacting to his announcement, supporters have planned a series of flash mobs all over the country in support of Barsik, and anyone can join, provided they remember Barsik’s important slogan–“Only mice don’t vote for Barsik!”

The political scandals are already starting too, as the U.S. Ambassador to Russia confirmed that Barsik’s campaign misinformed his public by publishing a letter Barsik claimed was from the Embassy, but was proven fake.

Related: 10 Obvious Signs That Your Cat’s Out To Get You

Barsik’s team refuted the scandalous accusations, and said they don’t belong to any political party but Barsik’s.

Which just goes to show that cats really do have a plan to take over the world…one country at a time!