Clay Aiken Is Running For Congress In North Carolina Again
Waaay back in 2014, American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken ran for Congress in his native North Carolina. Despite votes from 85,479 horned up Claymates, Republican incumbent Renee Ellmers whooped Clay’s ass with 58.8% of the vote and continued to represent North Carolina’s 2nd district in the House of Representatives. Seven years later, and Clay is once again trying his (“disgusting,” according to Kelly Ripa) hand at politics!
Today 43-year-old Clay announced he’s running for Congress, this time in a congressional district that’s more liberal than the one he previously ran in. In an announcement video entitled “Warming Up”, Clay criticizes North Carolina’s “backwards ass” policies, including “the voter suppression bills and bigoted bathroom bill.”
Clay says that “it seems like the loudest voices in North Carolina politics are white nationalists” and “hateful homophobes,” and refers to footage of Rep. Madison Cawthorn being a Trump-lover and North Carolina’s lieutenant governor, Mark Robinson, being a homophobe. Clay compares these two to Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert, and says, “As Democrats, we have gotta get better about speaking up and using our voices, because those folks ain’t quieting down anytime soon.” I thought “using our voices” would be the perfect segue for Clay to start belting out his steamy 2003 stalker anthem, Invisible (with the lyrics changed to “If I were electable!”), but, alas…
At the end of the video Clay shows images of Madison Cawthorn and Mark Robinson against rainbow pride flags, and says, “Just think how excited these guys are gonna be when we elect the South’s first gay congressman.” According to NBC News, Clay is “emphasizing his bid to become the first openly gay member of Congress from the South,” and that’s not something he focussed on during his first election. Ya hear that, North Carolina? He’s gay! He’s gay! And he don’t care who knows it! Here’s Clay’s announcement video:
Can you believe it's been almost 20 years since I first got to share my voice with you? That's a long time. A LOT has changed!
We need powerful voices more than ever, so I'm running for Congress.
And my voice is even stronger now! 😉 #JoinTheChorushttps://t.co/aQIm8a2xuZ pic.twitter.com/xBtN2CYF30
— Clay Aiken (@clayaiken) January 10, 2022
I wonder how many takes it took for Clay to pull up his own stool and sit down like a cool substitute teacher. My guess is… 100 to 150? The people need a blooper reel!
Pic: YouTube