Former Navy captain and Republican Virginia Senate candidate Hung Kao criticized the Navy for featuring a drag queen in its recruiting video during a debate Wednesday.

“When we use drag queens to recruit for the Navy, that’s not what we need. We need alpha males and alpha females who will rip out their own innards and eat them, demanding seconds. “It’s young men and women who will win the war,” Cao said.

Captain Kao: “When we recruit drag queens to the Navy, that’s not what we want. We want alpha males who will rip out their own innards and eat them and demand seconds.” I’m an alpha female.” pic.twitter.com/1sCSZ8AZVh

— Hung Cao (@HungCao_VA) October 2, 2024

Cao was responding to a discussion moderator’s question about an earlier tweet criticizing the military’s use of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in its recruiting efforts.

This administration has increased its obsession with DEI. No wonder our country has a military recruitment problem and it continues under Harris/Waltz.https://t.co/5HUNq15uSj

— Hung Cao (@HungCao_VA) September 4, 2024

“I was simply stating what everyone believes to be a fact. Drag queens are not the kind of people we want in the Navy,” Cao told the Daily Caller. “What we need are alpha males and alpha females who will tear out their own innards, eat them, and demand seconds. These are young men and women who are going to win the war. Not drag queens.”

He likely cited the Daily Caller News Foundation (DCNF) in May 2023, which revealed that the Navy had used active-duty sailors who are also drag queens as “digital ambassadors” to target potential recruits on social media platforms. ) seems to have been referred to in the report.

According to the DCNF, the Navy invited Private Yeoman Joshua Kelley, known by his stage name Harpy Daniels, as part of its digital ambassador program, which ran from October 2022 to March 2023.

Cao’s criticism coincides with the military’s recruiting crisis, as the Army, Navy, and Air Force all missed their 2023 recruiting targets by “historically large margins,” according to a February 2024 DCNF report. . (Related: Exclusive: New document sheds light on Air Force’s ‘goal’ to reduce ‘white male population’ in enlisted officer ranks)

MILWAUKEE, WI – JULY 16: Virginia Republican U.S. Senate candidate Hung Kao speaks on stage during the second day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum on July 16, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Delegates, politicians and Republican faithful were in Milwaukee for the annual convention, which concluded with former President Donald Trump accepting the party’s presidential nomination. The RNC will be held from July 15th to 18th. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Mr. Cao is a Navy veteran whose accomplishments include serving as head of the Navy’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Task Force, balancing the Navy’s $140 billion budget in the Budget Division, and serving on the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force. This includes cooperation with the association. his linkedin Profile and Website.

CHESAPEAKE, VA – JUNE 28: U.S. Senate Republican candidate Hung Kao from Virginia speaks with Republican presidential candidate former U.S. President Donald Trump during a rally at the Greenbrier Farm on June 28, 2024 in Chesapeake, Virginia. Join the podium. Last night, President Trump and US President Joe Biden participated in the first presidential debate of the 2024 campaign. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

He has a 10-point lead in polls over incumbent senator and former Hillary Clinton running mate Tim Kaine. According to compared to the Real Clear Politics polling average before the debate.