Politics

A GOP candidate mocked trans women online so the internet dug up a photo of him in a bra & wig

Ohio Republican Josh Mandel may not like transgender women, but he's got no problem doing drag.
Ohio Republican Josh Mandel may not like transgender women, but he's got no problem doing drag. Photo: Composite

Republican Josh Mandel can’t stop obsessing about transgender people and pronouns. The perennial candidate and former state treasurer is making the issues two of his primary campaign issues.

This time around, he decided to demean trans women with a slur while touting Dave Chappelle’s controversial comedy special for Netflix and the subsequent fallout.

Related: Lauren Boebert says including LGBTQ parents is a plot to “get rid of parents all together”

“Just watched the Chappelle special,” he tweeted. “Was hilarious and offensive to all — as comedy should be. Lighten up transies [sic] — Chappelle is the GOAT.”

The internet being what it is, the responses to his tweet were sharp, but user Robert Schmad took it a step further.

“Trans icon Josh Mandel,” he tweeted in response along with a photo of Mandel in drag wearing a stuffed sports bra and a wig.

The homophobic candidate is pictured giving another student a backrub in the weight room. The photo comes from Mandel’s high school yearbook.

Our sister site, Queerty, reports that the photo first surfaced in 2012 “when Mandel was Ohio’s state treasurer and a GOP candidate for the U.S. Senate. At the time, his communications director said the candidate had no recollection of taking the photo, but that he was probably just ‘joking around’.”

Earlier this month, Mandel – who was once denounced by his own family for rejecting his lesbian, veteran cousin – was kicked out of a school board meeting by sheriff’s officers on Monday when he took to the mic to rant about transgender kids in schools… in a school district he doesn’t even live in.

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