PULLING OUT

MAGA Hopeful Ditches Gubernatorial Race Over Trans Porn Claims

Formerly a prospective GOP Governor of Wisconsin, Bill Berrien now identifies as a political pariah after being outed for following a transgender adult performer online.

Republican Gubernatorial hopeful Bill Berrien had been in the running to become Wisconsin’s next leader, before the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported on the former Navy seal’s apparent enthusiasm for adult content creators on Medium, of all places. Among the accounts Berrien followed was one belonging to Jiz Lee, an influential queer pornstar who was born a woman but uses they/them pronouns. Berrien’s since pulled out of the race, issuing a lengthy statement in which he said it was “in the best interest of the party, voters, donors, and my family” that he’s now “decided to end my campaign,” adding somewhat bizarrely he had “no idea that running for political office could be almost as dangerous [as] hunting down war criminals in Bosnia.” His withdrawal bears certain similarity to the controversy surrounding former GOP lieutenant governor of North Carolina Mark Robinson, who was exposed last year for frequenting transgender porn sites, as well as identifying online as a “Black Nazi” and expressing support for slavery as something that should be “brought back.”