Republican nominee Hung Cao sparked controversy on Wednesday by suggesting that drag queens and their supporters lack the toughness required for army service. When requested concerning the army’s troubling recruitment numbers, Cao attributed the difficulty to the Navy’s use of drag queens in its outreach efforts.
“If you’re utilizing a drag queen…to recruit for the Navy, that is not the folks we want.What we want is alpha males and alpha females who’re going to tear out their very own guts, eat them and ask for seconds. These are the younger women and men which might be going to win wars,” Cao mentioned.
Cao made the remarks in the one debate of the marketing campaign for US Senate seat from Virginia towards Democratic Senator Tim Kaine.
Cao’s controversial assertion was aimed toward Yeoman 2nd Class Joshua Kelley, who performs because the non-binary drag queen Harpy Daniels. Kelley gained nationwide consideration in November 2022 after being named the Navy’s first digital ambassador, a part of an initiative in the course of the Biden administration to interact with various communities by revolutionary outreach methods. Nevertheless, this system confronted vital backlash from conservative factions and was finally discontinued in April 2023.
Cao’s additionally criticised different army insurance policies, together with necessary Covid-19 vaccinations for service members and the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Incumbent Democratic Senator Tim Kaine labeled Cao’s argument as a distraction from the actual points at hand. “I didn’t perceive my opponent’s argument,” Kaine mentioned, suggesting that Cao’s concentrate on drag queens was a “pink herring.” Kaine highlighted the significance of the army reaching out to new constituencies and adapting to a altering society as an answer to the recruitment disaster.
Kaine, who has served within the Senate since 2013 and was Hillary Clinton’s vice presidential decide in 2016, argued that profitable recruitment hinges on the army’s skill to attach with a broader vary of potential candidates.