MAGA candidate says drag queens ruin the military in bizarre rant about soldiers eating intestines

Hung Cao, the Republican candidate for Virginia’s U.S. Senate seat, blamed a drag queen for low military recruitment numbers and said the military needs self-cannibalizing “alpha males and females” instead.

During his Wednesday night debate against incumbent Sen. Tim Kaine (D), Cao — a Navy veteran endorsed by former President Donald Trump — was asked about his former comments claiming that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives under the administration of President Joe Biden were causing the lowest military recruitment numbers in 80 years.

Related:

Drag in the military: How drag queens helped U.S. soldiers win World War II

Ronald Reagan was even involved in this largely-forgotten tradition.

“When you’re using a drag queen to recruit for the Navy, that’s not the people we want,” replied Cao. “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.”

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Cao may have been referring to Yeoman Second Class Joshua Kelley, a nonbinary Navy service member who goes by the name Harpy Daniels when in drag. The Navy selected Kelley as one of several active duty “Digital Ambassadors” in a pilot program using social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok for recruitment.

Republicans began publicly opposing Kelley months after they had already been serving as a digital ambassador. In May 2023, Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) wrote via X, “The US Navy is now using drag queens for recruitment. Do our military leaders understand that China and Russia see this stuff and prepare accordingly? We need a non-woke military. Better yet, an anti-woke military.”

When asked to clarify his comment, Cao told NBC News, “I just said what everyone believes as fact,” and again said that “alpha” soldiers “are going to win wars. Not drag queens.”

“Hung Cao’s bigotry is palpable as he attacks LGBTQ Virginians,” wrote American Bridge 21st Century, a Democratic Super PAC and opposition-research group, via X.

Cao is trailing an average of 10 points behind Kaine in state polls.

"When you're using a, you know, drag queen to recruit for the navy, that's not the people we want."

Hung Cao's bigotry is palpable as he attacks LGBTQ Virginians. #VASen pic.twitter.com/E7kSJUb2jC

— American Bridge 21st Century (@American_Bridge) October 2, 2024

The Army, Air Force, and Navy all fell short of their annual recruitment goals in 2023. Declining recruitment may result from an increased disinterest among young people, increased job opportunities that have neutralized the attractiveness of military benefits and incentives, and military entry standards that disqualify large swaths of young people for various physical and mental health issues, Vox.com reported.

In June 2024, Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA), the nation’s first out gay immigrant congressman, blasted House Republicans — and anti-LGBTQ+ Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) — over the party’s proposed amendment banning drag performances on military bases.

“There are a lot of threats to the health and well-being of our service members: poison water on military bases, toxic mold in military housing, PTSD, and suicide. So I see that a top Republican idea to protect our troops is actually to ban drag shows.”

“They want to believe that drag is harmful or immoral or wrong. This is completely ridiculous. Now, I hate to break it to my Republican colleagues, but … we can document and celebrate drag shows on military bases, and they’ve been celebrated since the 1800s and through both World Wars,” he continued. “The USO and Red Cross hosted drag shows during World War II. The army that defeated and saved the world included drag queens.”

This year, House Republicans approved military funding amendments demanding the Department of Defense (DOD) to stop providing gender-affirming care to transgender servicemembers and to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) offices and positions. The amendments were stripped out of the final funding bill, thanks to opposition from Democratic senators.

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