Hung Cao, the Republican Senate nominee in Virginia, disparaged drag queens and people who find themselves tolerant of them by implying Wednesday that they don't seem to be robust sufficient to serve in the military.
Cao made the remarks in a televised debate towards Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine when one of the moderators asked him about his earlier feedback tying what he known as the White House's “growing obsession” with variety, fairness and inclusion, or DEI, to military recruitment points. Cao, a Navy veteran, was requested to clarify how he believes DEI may have an effect on military recruitment.
“When you’re using a, you know, drag queen to recruit for the Navy, that’s not the people we want,” Cao stated after he was pressed about the subject following his preliminary response. “What we need is alpha males and alpha females who are going to rip out their own guts, eat them and ask for seconds. Those are young men and women that are going to win wars.”
During the Biden administration, the Navy reportedly had a Digital Ambassador Pilot Program for recruitment that included a petty officer second class who additionally carried out in drag, prompting Republican pushback. The program led to April 2023 and was not continued, the undersecretary of the Navy wrote in a letter to Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., who had objected to the program.
Reached for remark about the debate remarks, Cao's marketing campaign responded with an announcement from him saying, “I just said what everyone believes as fact.”
He then reiterated his response from the debate and added that women and men who “rip out their own guts” are the ones who “are going to win wars. Not drag queens.”
Cao has posted a clip of the change to his X account, threading a hyperlink for supporters to donate to his marketing campaign.
According to his marketing campaign web site, Cao is a retired Navy captain who served with particular operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia. He additionally had noncombat assignments in collaboration with the Navy, the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI.
He made the Wednesday throughout a dialogue of the military's historical past of failure to fulfill its recruitment targets lately.
Kaine responded stated that he “didn't understand my opponent's argument.”
Kaine, who was former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's operating mate in 2016, stated the military wanted to achieve out to new constituencies and persuade folks about the advantages of military service.
“‘DEI' is a red herring,” he stated.
Former President Donald Trump endorsed Cao in the Senate GOP main; Cao later spoke at the Republican National Convention.
The Cook Political Report, which examines the competitiveness of congressional seats and the presidential race, characterizes the Virginia Senate seat as “solid” Democrat.
