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Is George Takei running for Congress? Not in this galaxy

Sorry, Star Trek fans, but Sulu's portrayer won't be boldly going into politics -- at least not right now.

Gael Cooper
CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of "Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the '70s and '80s," as well as "The Totally Sweet '90s." She's been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She's Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she'll be first in line.
Expertise Breaking news, entertainment, lifestyle, travel, food, shopping and deals, product reviews, money and finance, video games, pets, history, books, technology history, generational studies. Credentials
  • Co-author of two Gen X pop-culture encyclopedia for Penguin Books. Won "Headline Writer of the Year"​ award for 2017, 2014 and 2013 from the American Copy Editors Society. Won first place in headline writing from the 2013 Society for Features Journalism.
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Gael Cooper
2 min read

Some April Fool's pranks are obvious, like Burger King's Whopper toothpaste and All Stuf Oreos. Others, like a report Star Trek actor George Takei might be boldly going into politics, require some mulling over.

Mr. Sulu himself fooled many fans late Friday night and early Saturday morning by claiming he was running for Congress. Just after midnight in the east -- the early minutes of April Fools' Day -- Takei tweeted a link to an article that reported he and his husband were moving to Visalia, California.

Why the supposed move for the longtime Angeleno? Once transplanted, Takei was going to challenge Republican Devin Nunes, who represents the district Visalia is in. Nunes, who chairs the House Intelligence Committee, has been in the news recently for his handling of an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Of course, there were some clues the story might be fake news. In addition, to the April 1 date, Nunes' first name was misspelled. And the site where the article appeared, The Daily Buzz, describes itself as "Your Daily Dose of Laughs, Hacks, News and More," though not all of its articles appear to be hoaxes.

Still, fans loved the idea.

But sadly, Takei won't be boldly going into politics. On Saturday morning, he admitted it was a prank, and instead encouraged fans to support real candidate Jon Ossoff, who is running in the 2017 special election April 18 to represent Georgia's 6th congressional district.

Some fans voiced their disappointment on Twitter. But Takei responded that it's hard to know what to believe these days.

By George, I think he got us.

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