Virginia senate candidate Hung Cao goes viral for blaming a drag queen on low military recruitment numbers

The Republican running for Senate in Virginia was asked about lagging military recruitment numbers during a debate and bizarrely put the blame squarely on drag queens in the Navy.

Hung Cao, a retired Navy Captain who served in the role for 25 years, is challenging incumbent Democrat Senator Tim Kaine. The pair faced off against him during a debate at Norfolk State University's campus.

Local news anchor Deanna Allbrittin brought up Cao's previous statement ridiculing the Biden Administration for its DEI-based military recruitment policies. She asked the Senate hopeful why such policies might have had an impact on the Department of Defense.

In his first stab at the question, Cao attacked Biden's disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan that led to the deaths of 13 US service members. But when pressed on why DEI - diversity, equity and inclusion, caused low recruitment numbers, Cao blamed a drag queen the Navy recruited two years ago to do outreach.

'When you're using a drag queen to recruit for the Navy, that's not the people we want. What we need is alpha males and alpha females who are going to rip out their own guts, eat them and ask for seconds,' Cao said.

'Those are young men and women that are going to win wars,' he concluded his answer, which prompted clapping from the audience.

Cao is referring to Yeoman 2nd Class Joshua Kelley, who doubles as a non-binary drag queen with the stage name Harpy Daniels.

Kelley announced on TikTok in November 2022 that she'd been tapped to be the Navy's first 'digital ambassador.' 

The unpaid role allows her to highlight her journey from performing on board  to becoming an 'advocate' for those who 'were oppressed for years in the service.'

The unpaid role allows her to highlight her journey from performing on board to becoming an 'advocate' for those who 'were oppressed for years in the service.'

The ambassador program, which was meant to appeal to younger audiences, was discontinued in March 2023 following harsh criticism from former service members and conservatives.

Cao proudly clipped out his anti-drag queen answer and posted it to his X profile, where it has since received more than 750,000 views.

The reactions were mostly positive, with commenters agreeing wholeheartedly.

'Exactly! If we’re looking for recruits, we need warriors, not performers. The Navy should be about courage and strength, not a talent show!' one person wrote.

A man who claimed he was in the military was the strongest supporter of Cao's comments.

'DAMNED RIGHT!!! That's the NAVY my DAD served in. That's the NAVY I SERVED IN!!! We need THAT NAVY BACK ON OUR OCEANS!!' he wrote. 'We don't need mental cases begging for attention and free operations because they're experiencing confusion over who they want to be in this life.'

Another simply pointed out, 'if this offends you…the military might not be for you.'

The Defense Department didn't mention DEI policies when it took stock of the recruiting shortage at the end of 2023.

Instead, it argued the military isn't welcoming nearly as many people into their ranks because of 'a strong economy' and Generation Z's low trust in institutions.

When it was Kaine's turn to address the recruiting shortage, he quickly attacked Cao before diagnosing what he views 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 been 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 of reaching out to new constituencies.

He also stressed that military recruiters ought to put the benefits of joining front and center.

'You have to convince people of the benefits of military service are enormous,' Kaine said. 'People feel like if they serve in the military they'll fall behind. No, you'll zoom ahead because of benefits like the GI Bill and others.'

The latest poll surveying the Virginia Senate race has Kaine up 10 percentage points on Cao.

The Cook Political Report also rates Kaine's seat as solid Democrat.

Cao unsuccessfully ran for the House of Representatives in 2022 in Virginia's 10th Congressional District.