From Iceland — Jón Gnarr Does Not Want To Run For President

Jón Gnarr Does Not Want To Run For President

Published January 5, 2014

Reykjavík Mayor Jón Gnarr hosted an AMA on Reddit last night, his second since December 2012.

Gnarr, who is leaving the Mayor’s Office in the spring following his decision not to run for re-election, was asked if he might consider running for president instead.

“No, I will not run for president.” Gnarr answered.

When asked if he had lost “faith in the system” upon becoming mayor and seeing the darker parts of city politics, Gnarr said he saw the system as homogeneous and stagnant. He called for greater diversity in city hall to fix the issue citing a need for more young people, more women and greater professionalism.

Gnarr also criticised the way some Icelandic media outlets report crimes committed by immigrants, saying “The biggest obstacle [for immigrants to Iceland] is perhaps the silly macho nationalism. For example, it really gets on my nerves when news outlets make a point of people’s nationalities in crime-related news. I think it creates unnecessary prejudice.”

As for less serious but no less important questions posed by the public, Gnarr confirmed that he believes the next Star Wars film will be epic and that he likes Greek yoghurt.

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