“Take That, Trump”: This Political Ad Made History With the First Same-Sex Kiss

Rich Madaleno is a Maryland state senator who’s also currently running for governor of his state. In his new campaign ad, he makes his political mission clear: He wants to piss off Trump and other Republicans.

Now, to be fair, as Madaleno runs down the list of his progressive accomplishments–fighting for Planned Parenthood, co-sponsoring gun control bills, supporting public schools over voucher programs–it’s not like he fought for any of those causes because they anger Trump (despite what hordes of YouTube commenters seem to think). Rather, he makes it clear that he won’t be bullied into submission and silence on these issues. If he happens to “infuriate” Trump along the way, well, that’s probably a sign that he’s on the right track.

After listing off the causes he’s championed in office (with a “take that, Trump/the NRA/Betsy DeVos” after each), he asks, “And what’s the No. 1 way I piss off Donald Trump and the Republicans?” Then he answers his own question by kissing his husband Mark Hodge on the lips. “Take that, Trump,” he says directly into the camera.

According to the LGBTQ Victory Fund, that is the first-ever same-sex kiss to be seen in a political ad. What makes it even more awesome is that in addition to running the ad in Maryland, he wanted to make sure his message actually made it to Trump himself, so he booked airtime this morning for the ad to premiere during Trump’s favorite show: Fox & Friends.

As The Hill reports, Madaleno is currently in 4th place in a somewhat crowded Democratic primary. But if elected, he would be Maryland’s first openly gay governor. Take that, Trump.

(via The Hill, image: screencap)

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Vivian Kane

Vivian Kane (she/her) is the Senior News Editor at The Mary Sue, where she's been writing about politics and entertainment (and all the ways in which the two overlap) since the dark days of late 2016. Born in San Francisco and radicalized in Los Angeles, she now lives in Kansas City, Missouri, where she gets to put her MFA to use covering the local theatre scene. She is the co-owner of The Pitch, Kansas City’s alt news and culture magazine, alongside her husband, Brock Wilbur, with whom she also shares many cats.

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