Ex-child actor explains long-shot bid for presidency: 'We need leadership that can reunite us'

Entrepreneur and former child actor Brock Pierce touted his presidential candidacy Wednesday, telling Fox Business Network's "Mornings with Maria" that he and rapper Kanye West could unite behind a "powerful message" for Americans during the coronavirus pandemic.

"Kanye and I are clearly tapping into the same thing and [I'm] really excited to see his — his running as well," said Pierce, referring to West's tweet last week announcing his bid for the White House.

"Hopefully, collectively, we can deliver a powerful message to the American people at a time where I think we need it. I mean, COVID-19 has brought us together around a shared issue in a way that I don’t think we’ve ever been brought together before. It's great time to be delivering a different message, a message that will allow us to move forward."

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Earlier in the interview, Pierce told Bartiromo that he was seeking public office "because I’m deeply concerned about the state of our nation right now. I feel we're very polarized, I feel this nation is very much divided and I think we need messages and I think we need leadership that can reunite us as a country.

"And that’s the big part of it, is I think there’s an opportunity to deliver an important message for all of us to focus inward on really basic principles. You know, what's up, what's down, what’s right, what’s wrong. What are our values? What are our principles? What do we stand for? And as we decide what we stand for, we have a foundation that will allow us to be less manipulated and hopefully find path a forward together -- harmonization of the left and the right."

Pierce, who appeared in films like "The Mighty Ducks" and "Little Big League," went on to a career in business and has made a name for himself in the cryptocurrency industry. He has reportedly compared himself to three-time presidential candidate Ron Paul and told Cointelegraph he wants to use his candidacy to promote blockchain, which powers cryptocurrency.

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Both he and West have entered the 2020 presidential race long after others, including leading Democrats, have dropped out of the running. Pierce, who's running as an indepedent, was confident, however, that he could manage to get his name on most state ballots before election day.

"From a ballot perspective, we think that we'll be on a majority of the ballots and that is the immediate sort of work that we have to do right now as those deadlines continue to hit," he said.

Pierce officially filed with the Federal Election Commission on Monday. He could face scrutiny over decades-old allegations that he pressured three of his male employees to have sex with him when they were minors. Pierce has denied the allegations and reportedly paid one of the accusers more than $21,000 in a settlement. The other two, he said, dropped their claims.

He told Bartiromo that his record as an entrepreneur made him a good candidate for office.

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"I’m a small business entrepreneur making big things out of nothing, and I think entrepreneurs built this nation and I think entrepreneurs and innovators are the ones that are going to get us out of our current situation," he said.

"For example, most of my career has been in technology. I think there’s no question that technology has affected all of our lives and it’s only going to continue to do so exponentially. In this day and age, if we want to build a 21st-century economy, you need to understand the tools of the 21st century."