Tiko Tiko the clown turns political, throws his nose in the ring

Ecuador’s most famous clown is running for the National Assembly. Tiko Tiko, less well known as  Ernesto Huertas Carrillo, registered Friday to run in his Guayaquil district on the Ecuadorian Socialist Party ticket.

Tiko Tiko the clown.

Tiko Tiko gained fame in the 1970s as host of a popular children’s television show and, more recently, as a frequent guest on President Rafael Correa’s weekly address to the nation. He gained international fame in early 2015 when comedian John Oliver, host of HBO’s Last Week Tonight show, played a clip of Correa and Tiko Tiko together and commented that every president should have a clown.

An angry Correa fired back at Oliver, suggesting that the concept of a British comedian is oxymoronic, to which Oliver asked Correa if he had nothing better to do than carry on an international argument about a clown.

Claiming his honor was impugned, Tiko Tiko got into the act by writing an op-ed column in a Quito newspaper, suggesting that clowns have every right to participate in social and political life of the country.

For more on the Tiko Tiko the clown – John Oliver incident, click here.