The Republican running for Senate in Virginia was asked during a debate about lagging military recruitment numbers and bizarrely placed the blame squarely on Navy drag queens.
Hung Cao, a retired Navy captain who held the position for 25 years, is challenging incumbent Democrat Sen. Tim Kaine. The pair faced off against him during a debate on the campus of Norfolk State University.
Local news anchor Deanna Allbrittin brought up Cao’s previous statement ridiculing the Biden administration for its DEI-based military recruitment policies. She hopefully asked the Senate why such policies might have affected the Defense Department.
In his first attempt to answer this question, Cao attacked Biden’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, which led to the deaths of thirteen American service members. But when pressed on why DEI — diversity, equity and inclusion — was causing low recruitment numbers, Cao blamed a drag queen the Navy recruited two years ago to do outreach.
Hung Cao, a retired Navy captain, blamed a drag queen the Navy recruited two years ago to reach a younger audience
Pictured: Yeoman 2nd Class Joshua Kelley in drag. Her stage name is Harpy Daniels and she was tapped by the Navy as a ‘digital ambassador’
This role allows her to highlight her journey from performing on board to becoming a ‘lawyer’
“If you use a drag queen to recruit for the Navy, those are not the people we want. What we need are alpha males and alpha females who will rip out their own intestines, eat them and ask for seconds,” Cao said.
“Those are young men and women who are going to win wars,” he concluded his answer, prompting applause from the audience.
Cao is referring to Yeoman 2nd Class Joshua Kelley, who also serves as a non-binary drag queen with the stage name Harpy Daniels.
Kelley announced on TikTok in November 2022 that she had been selected as the Navy’s first “digital ambassador.”
The unpaid role allows her to highlight her journey from acting on board to becoming an ‘advocate’ for those who were ‘oppressed in the service for years’.
The unpaid role allows her to highlight her journey from acting on board to becoming an ‘advocate’ for those who were ‘oppressed in the service for years’.
The ambassador program, which was intended to appeal to a younger audience, was halted in March 2023 after harsh criticism from former military personnel and conservatives.
Cao proudly cut out his anti-drag queen response and posted it to his X profile, where it has since been viewed more than 750,000 times.
Reactions to Cao’s answer were mostly positive, with commentators fully agreeing that drag queens should not be used for recruitment.
The response was overwhelmingly positive and the commenters were in complete agreement.
‘Precisely! When we look for recruits, we need fighters, not artists. The Navy should be about courage and strength, not a talent show!’ wrote one person.
A man who claimed he was in the military was the strongest supporter of Cao’s comments.
‘DAMN RIGHT!!! That’s the Navy my father served in. That’s the Navy I served in!!! We need that Navy BACK on our oceans!!” he wrote. “We don’t need psychiatric patients begging for attention and free surgeries because they experience confusion about who they want to be in this life.”
Another simply said, “If this offends you…maybe the military isn’t the right choice for you.”
The Department of Defense made no mention of DEI policy when it took stock of the recruitment gap in late 2023.
Instead, the report argued that the military is not welcoming nearly as many people into their ranks due to “a strong economy” and Gen Z’s low trust in institutions.
Tim Kaine, who has served in the Senate since 2013, said he wasn’t sure what Cao’s point was, saying: ‘DEI is a red herring’
When it was Kaine’s turn to address the recruitment shortage, he quickly attacked Cao before diagnosing what he sees as the problem.
“Well, I didn’t understand my opponent’s argument. I mean, he went all around the block and I’m not sure what his point was about DEI,” Kaine said, adding, “DEI is a red herring.”
Kaine, who has served in the Senate since 2013 and was Hillary Clinton’s vice presidential pick in 2016, argued that the military needs to do a better job reaching new constituencies.
He also emphasized that military recruiters must prioritize the benefits of participation.
“You have to convince people that the benefits of military service are enormous,” Kaine said. “People feel like they’re falling behind when they serve in the military. No, you’re moving forward because of benefits like the GI Bill and others.”
The latest poll on the Senate race in Virginia shows Kaine up 10 percentage points over Cao.
The Cook Political Report also rates Kaine’s seat as solidly Democrat.
Cao unsuccessfully ran for the House of Representatives in Virginia’s 10th Congressional District in 2022.