Republican Senate candidate Hung Cao in Virginia discredited drag queens and people who are tolerant of them by implying on Wednesday that they are not strong enough to serve in the military.
Cao made the comments in a televised debate against Democratic Senator Tim Kaine, when one of the moderators asked him about his previous comments linking the White House’s “growing obsession” with diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, to military recruitment issues . . Cao, a Navy veteran, was asked to explain how he thinks DEI could impact military recruitment.
“If you use a drag queen to recruit for the Navy, those are not the people we want,” Cao said after being pressed on the issue following his initial response. “What we need are alpha males and alpha females who will rip out their own intestines, eat them and ask for seconds. These are young men and women who are going to win wars.”
During the Biden administration, the Navy reportedly had a pilot program for digital ambassadors for recruitment, including a petty officer second class who also performed in drag, leading to Republican backlash. The program ended in 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.
When Cao’s campaign reached out for comment on the debate comments, he responded with a statement from him saying, “I just said what everyone believes as fact.”
He then repeated his response from the debate, adding that men and women who “rip out their own intestines” are the ones who “are going to win wars. No drag queens.”
Cao posted a clip of the exchange to his X account, with a link for supporters to donate to his campaign.
According to his campaign website, Cao is a retired Marine captain who served in special operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia. He also had non-combat assignments working with the Navy, the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI.
He made the remarks Wednesday during a discussion about the Army’s history of failing to meet its recruiting goals in recent years.
Kaine responded that he “didn’t understand my opponent’s argument.”
Kaine, former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s running mate in 2016, said the military needed to reach new constituencies and convince people of the benefits of military service.
“DEI is a red herring,” he said.
Former President Donald Trump endorsed Cao in the GOP Senate primaries; 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 a “solid” Democrat.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
