Clay Aiken Yassifies Running for Congress With Chatty Campaign Announcement Vid
"Just think how excited these guys are gonna be when we elect the South’s first gay congressman," says the former American Idol contestant.
Politics
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Clay Aiken, who stole many a Middle American heart in 2003 when he competed on American Idol (eventually placing as the second season’s first runner-up), announced Monday that he’s running for Congress in North Carolina’s 6th District via a chatty campaign video. In it, he reintroduces himself by referring to some images from his Idol days and says, “I know I look a little bit different these days, but we’ve met before. I’m Clay Aiken. Most of you probably remember me like this: Skinny.”
It’s going great so far! In a smart blazer, queerish lavender shirt, and jeans that suggest at least an undercurrent of hip with-it-ness, Aiken runs down his last 20 years (after Idol, the “bright-eyed kid from North Carolina” came home, came out, became a father), gives a brief history lesson on what cell phones used to be like, and positions himself as a progressive alternative to the likes of white nationalist North Carolina rep Madison Cawthorn and the state’s virulently homophobic lieutenant governor Mark “What Is the Purpose of Homosexuality?” Robinson. Referencing the antics of Cawthorn and Robinson, as well as the likes of QAnon-adjacent reps Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Bobert, the “loud and proud Democrat” Aiken says, “I’m sick of it!,” in a bit of overly gesticulated adamancy that reminds me a lot of The Comeback’s Valerie Cherish.