A MAGA favorite to become president after Donald Trump is facing a growing crisis over a gay porn scandal rocking his home state.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin last Friday asked Republican nominee for lieutenant governor John Reid to drop out of the race amid allegations he ran a social media page filled with naked pictures of men.
Reid, who is gay and married, denied that the page was his and refused to resign. He claims that the page was created by hardline Republicans in an effort to sabotage his bid to become lieutenant governor.
Now Youngkin is stuck in a bind between needing to publicly back the Republican candidate in Virginia’s statewide elections and not wanting to align himself with the candidate embroiled in controversy over pornographic social media activity.
The crisis, which could damage Youngkin’s chances on the national stage in ’28, escalated further over the weekend as one of the governor’s top aide’s resigned.
Matt Moran, who ran Youngkin’s Spirit of Virginia PAC, stepped down after he was accused of pressuring Reid to remove himself from the GOP ticket. Moran has publicly denied he pushed Reid to step aside.
It comes after GOP top brass tried to pressure Reid to quit over the alleged lewd social media page. But these efforts have spectacularly backfired.
Under Virginia law, Youngkin cannot run for a second consecutive gubernatorial term in the commonwealth. Many feel that instead, he could launch a 2028 presidential bid as President Donald Trump completes his second term.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (right) finds himself in the middle of a gay porn scandal after it was alleged the candidate he backed for lieutenant governor posted nude images of men on social media. Pictured: Youngkin speaks in Virginia alongside Vice President J.D. Vance
Virginia candidate for lieutenant governor John Reid is facing pressure to end his campaign after it was revealed he he had the same Instagram same as a Tumblr account that posts gay pornography
The candidate’s Instagram handle is ‘jrdeux,’ which is the same user name a Tumblr account has used to repost and like hundreds of sexually explicit images
But Youngkin is far from an early frontrunner when it comes to the 2028 primary race.
Instead, Republicans appear to prefer the likes of Vice President J.D. Vance or the president’s eldest son Donald Trump Jr. to be the heir to the Trump political legacy, according to multiple polls.
In a Sunday interview with NBC News, Trump named Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio as potential figures to continue his MAGA agenda.
Reid is the first openly gay candidate for statewide office in Virginia.
Youngkin cannot run for a second consecutive term for governor under Virginia law. His Republican lieutenant governor Winsome Earle-Sears is running to be the next leader of the commonwealth.
‘The Governor was made aware late Thursday of the disturbing online content,’ Youngkin’s Spirit of Virginia PAC wrote in a statement. ‘Friday morning, in a call with Mr. Reid, the Governor asked him to step down as the Lt. Governor nominee.’
Moran did not say if he would campaign on behalf of Reid.
Youngkin’s PAC pointed Politico to a statement last week where the governor said he will ‘support the nominees and their ticket’ in the Virginia race.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who cannot run for reelection this year, is embroiled in the scandal after he asked on Friday that Reid end his bid but still insisted he will support whoever is the Republican candidate
Reid has published multiple videos of himself refuting the claims directly. In one he accused Youngkin’s political operation of ‘extortion,’ noting how they told him damaging information will be released on him until he drops out of the race
The Tumblr account ‘jrdeux’ includes reposts of hundreds of sexually explicit images, like the censored ones above
John Reid is the first openly gay candidate for statewide office in Virginia. He is married to Alonzo Mable (pictured), who is a member of Virginia’s LGBTQ+ advisory board
‘At the end of the day, Republicans need to win. And that’s the bottom line,’ he said on Friday.
Reid was connected to explicit posts on a Tumblr account with the handle ‘jrdeux’, which the candidate has used on other social media sites like Instagram and Threads.
Reid’s husband, Alonzo Mable, has tagged his spouse in social media posts using the ‘jrdeux’ moniker.
The Tumblr account includes a litany of gay pornographic images and kinks.
The former radio host says that Youngkin’s political operation is threatening him with further damaging information in an effort of hurting his chances at election to be Virginia’s next lieutenant governor.
‘I can tell you that’s not my account,’ Reid said in a five-minute video posted on X last week addressing the controversy.
In the clip, Reid notes how he was approached by individuals who warned him the account could be damaging to his campaign.
‘I demanded to see the evidence, and someone created a social media account with my instagram name, a name, which I’ve had for years, but this fake account reposted nude pictures of other people, models and porn models,’ he says. ‘I can tell you, that’s not my account, and anyone on the internet can open accounts with the same or similar names as other people.’
