Virginia Republican Senate candidate Hung Cao blasted drag queens and those who tolerate them on Wednesday, saying they’re not tough enough to serve. military.
Cao said these words during a televised debate against Democrat Senator Tim Kaine. he asked her About previous comments linking what the White House called a “growing obsession” with diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, to military recruitment issues. Cao, a Navy veteran, was asked to explain how he believes DEI can impact military recruiting.
“When you use a queen to recruit for the Navy, those are not the people we want,” Cao said after being pressed about the issue after his initial response. “What we need are alpha males and alpha females who will tear their guts out, eat them and ask for seconds. These are the young men and women who will win the wars.”
During the Biden administration, It was reported from the Navy There was the Digital Ambassador Pilot Program for recruitment, which included a second-ranking petty officer, which led to Republican pushback. The program ended in April 2023 and was not continued, an adviser to the Secretary of the Navy said wrote in the letter Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., who opposes the program.
Reached for comment about the debate comments, Cao’s campaign responded with a statement from him, saying, “I said what everyone believed to be the truth.”
He later repeated his response from the debate, adding that men and women who “bare their guts” “will win wars. Not drag queens.”
Cao posted a clip of the exchange to his X account, with a link for his supporters to donate to his campaign.
According to the campaign website, Cao is a retired Navy captain who served in special operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia. It also has non-combat assignments in cooperation with the Navy, the Department of Homeland Security, and the FBI.
He did during the debate on Wednesday military history failure to meet recruiting goals in recent years.
Kaine responded that he “didn’t understand my opponent’s argument.”
Kaine, who was the 2016 running mate of former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, said the military needs to reach out to 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 Senate GOP primary; Cao later spoke at the Republican National Convention.
The Cook Political Report, which examines the competitiveness of congressional seats and presidential races, to characterizeetc He sits in the Virginia Senate as a “solid” Democrat.