George Santos Defends JD Vance Drag Photo
The ex-GOP congressman says Vance's costume is "definitely not drag," and advises VP nominee to attack the Left for supporting drag queens.
George Santos is defending his party’s vice presidential nominee, JD Vance, arguing that just because he donned a wig and a dress at a costume party doesn’t mean he was doing drag.
Speaking with the FOX Corporation-owned celebrity news outlet TMZ, the disgraced former Republican U.S. Congressman sought to dispel the notion that Vance was dressed in drag when he was photographed, twice, wearing a blond wig, a black blouse with a flowered skirt, chunky jewelry, and a purse for a Halloween party he attended while studying at Yale Law School.
Santos compared the Vance photos to a similar situation that he personally faced last year, when he was accused of being a drag queen by people on the political Left after a former friend leaked a photo of him, dressed as his drag alter ego, Kitara Ravache, at a Pride Parade when he was 16 or 17.
Initially, for weeks after the photo leaked, Santos repeatedly denied rumors before acknowledging the photo was genuine. Since being expelled from Congress, Santos has been making money by recording personalized messages for pay to people using the video platform Cameo. He revived his drag persona in May, appearing in costume, wig, and full makeup to fulfill an unknown user’s request.
“It’s so funny now that people are so obsessed with, ‘Oh my God, somebody did drag or somebody put a wig on,’ in my case, 18 years ago, where I was still a minor, and nobody held back punches on something I did as a kid and had fun,” Santos said.
“Now, JD Vance, if that’s drag, then I guess all these other queens on RuPaul’s Drag Race can all be considered cisgender women at this point, because, holy crap is that bad drag,” he said, referring to Vance’s photos, which have gone viral after being leaked on social media.
“I mean, the guy went to a costume party, put on a freakin’ cheap wig from Party City, or something similar,” Santos ranted. “To call that drag is disingenuous, and I think most dudes, at some point in their lives, have played around with costumes that were gender-bender. Couples do that all the time. The wife will dress up as a guy, the husband will dress up like a woman. So it’s not drag. It’s definitely not drag.”
He also noted that former President Donald Trump wouldn’t care even if Vance’s costume were polished enough to qualify as drag, noting, “Remember, Donald Trump motorboated Rudy Giuliani in drag for charity.”
Santos also says that Vance, who hasn’t commented on the authenticity of the photos, should be speaking out and dismissing the controversy as “silly” while also putting liberals on the defensive.
“I would just say, ‘Hey, I can’t believe I just became the most hated drag queen by the Left,'” Santos said when asked what he’d tell Vance.
“I mean, it’s hilarious that the Left is hammering on him on something that they fight to create special protections for, which are drag queens,” he said. “So I don’t understand what’s the outrage here, even though I strongly suggest [Vance’s costume] is not drag at all. In no way, shape, or form.”
It should be noted that Santos appears to be deliberately misstating the Democratic Party’s stance on LGBTQ rights. The party has never advocated for “special rights” for drag queens, but has sought to pass the Equality Act, a piece of legislation that would prohibit various forms of discrimination against LGBTQ individuals.
Individuals on the political Left typically don’t actively support special protections for drag queens. Rather, they oppose using the power of the state to ban what should be considered a protected form of First Amendment expression.
Additionally, leftists often denounce threats of violence made against drag performers and venues that host drag-themed events.
Vance has a record that is openly hostile to the LGBTQ community.
Last year, he introduced legislation in the U.S. Senate to ban gender-affirming care for transgender youth at the federal level and to make it more difficult for transgender adults to obtain insurance coverage for such gender-affirming care.
He has supported “Don’t Say Gay”-style legislation, calling opponents of such laws “groomers” and claiming that schools are trying to sexualize children.
Vance also criticized a 2020 Supreme Court decision determining that anti-LGBTQ discrimination is inherently a form of sex-based discrimination. Unsurprisingly, he opposes legislation like the Equality Act that calls for legal protections for LGBTQ people.
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