Former RuPaul’s Drag Race judge told to ‘sashay away’ following Donald Trump endorsements

Former RuPaul’s Drag Race judge Santino Rice has faced criticism after publicly endorsing Donald Trump for the 2024 US presidential election, adding to a history of contentious statements.

Rice, who judged the drag competition for its first six seasons, shared his political views on X on Sunday (13 October). His post, which criticised current Vice President Kamala Harris and praised Trump, has received just 40 likes at time of publishing, despite Rice’s verified status and sizeable following.

The tweet stated: “I would love to see an intelligent and capable woman President some day, Kamala Harris is not her. There’s only one obvious candidate to rebuild America and stabilize the rest of the world and that is President Donald J. Trump.”

Rice’s statement prompted reactions from RuPaul’s Drag Race alumni. Lawrence Chaney, winner of Drag Race UK season 2, replied “Sashay away”. Season 1 winner The Vivienne called Rice “really unhinged” in a reply.

Sashay away. https://t.co/8M2vw7gRV3

— Lawrence Chaney (@ShadyLawrence) October 14, 2024

Meanwhile, a September poll found that Vice President Harris currently holds a 67-point lead among LGBTQ+ voters.

This is not the first time Rice has been involved in controversy. In 2020, he faced criticism for sharing statements about COVID-19 vaccines. “What they are selling people isn’t even a vaccine! They are calling it a ‘vaccine’ but it is not really a proper vaccine,” he wrote on X in 2021.

His recent X posts also include an AI-generated image of Harris pointing a gun in her mouth, as well as a screenshot of an article from a website known for publishing fake news claiming children with COVID-19 vaccines are “4423% more likely to die”.

Latest Drag Race figure backlash

Rice’s statements draw parallels to controversies surrounding another former RuPaul’s Drag Race figure, Lucian Piane.

Piane, who served as RuPaul’s music producer and guest judge on the show, faced a backlash in 2016 for a series of tweets supporting Donald Trump and criticising Hillary Clinton.

The same year, Piane also posted tweets that were widely condemned as racist and anti-Semitic. They included derogatory comments about Jewish people and inappropriate use of racial slurs. These incidents led to his departure from the show.

Piane later attributed his behaviour to a “marijuana psychosis,” explaining that he had consumed an extremely high dose of cannabis edibles.