Conservative megadonor Foster Friess, who was the runner-up in last year’s GOP primary for governor of Wyoming, told the Associated Press on Wednesday that he was considering a bid for the state’s open Senate seat. Friess said he’d be making his decision in the following months, but didn’t provide a more specific timetable. Friess is 79, which is quite old to begin serving in a place like the Senate where seniority is so vital. However, as we’ll see, not much has been conventional about Friess’ years in the political spotlight.

Friess rose to prominence in 2012 when he spent millions on a super PAC backing Rick Santorum's presidential campaign, which was basically the only thing keeping Santorum afloat for months. Friess also generated a firestorm over birth control during that campaign when he explained, "Back in my days, they used Bayer Aspirin for contraceptives. The gals put it between their knees and it wasn't that costly." Santorum only half-heartedly distanced himself from Friess by calling his comments a "stupid joke" and "not reflective of me," though the two remained friendly.

Friess continued to bankroll conservative candidates, and last cycle, he finally decided to become one himself. First, though, the wealthy businessman considered launching a primary bid against Sen. John Barrasso. Strangely, Friess repeatedly extolled Barrasso as “an incredible human being” and “one of my heroes” even as he was talking about running against him. However, Friess didn’t bother to spell his “hero’s” name correctly in an email explaining how white nationalist Steve Bannon had given him the idea to run against “John Barrosso.”

Friess decided not to launch a Senate campaign in 2018, but he surprised everyone when he jumped into the open seat race for governor. He kicked off that campaign with an appearance at the state party convention where he called for a return to "civility" in American politics.

In that very same civility speech, Friess suggested that Barack Obama had funneled money intended to mitigate global warming to cousins in a foreign country the candidate didn't know how to pronounce, adding, "Zoowanatou ... it's some little country I've never been." Friess went on to talk about the importance of providing weapons to the Kurdish military force in Iraq (whose name he also butchered), even though the governor of Wyoming has very little say in whether the United States arms them or not.