RuPaul is an inspiration to many and as such, gets asked a whole lot about things that might seem outside his purview. But, when he speaks, you remember politics belong to us all in this beautiful way and RuPaul 2020, please.
In an interview with Vulture about his Emmy nomination, RuPaul was asked about our two big party presidential rivals. Unsurprisingly, he relates his political ideology to drag, saying, “I’m a realist. Drag says, ‘This is all bullshit.’ Drag says, ‘You’re playing a role, and I’m here to remind you: Don’t get it twisted. I’m not buying it. I understand what’s really real, and what’s really hood, and I’m living my life that way.’ I see politics the same way. Everybody’s playing a role. And don’t try to make me believe that you are what you say you are. I can see behind that mask.”
I find this a very relatable analogy, and look forward to voting for my preferred mask in November. RuPaul clearly prefers Hillary Clinton, mentioning how the effort that went into building her bullshit mask was astronomically more challenging, and required grit and determination her male counterparts can’t comprehend:
And let me just say this: If you’re a politician — not just in Washington but in business and industry, you have to be a politician — there are a lot of things that you have to do that you’re not proud of. There are a lot of compromises you have to make because it means that you can get this other thing over here. And if you think that you can go to fucking Washington and be rainbows and butterflies the whole time, you’re living in a fucking fantasy world. So now, having said that, think about what a female has to do with that: All of those compromises, all of that shit, double it by ten. And you get to understand who this woman is and how powerful, persuasive, brilliant, and resilient she is. Any female executive, anybody who has been put to the side — women, blacks, gays — for them to succeed in a white-male-dominated culture is an act of brilliance. Of resilience, of grit, of everything you can imagine. So, what do I think of Hillary? I think she’s fucking awesome. Is she in bed with Wall Street? Goddammit, I should hope so! You’ve got to dance with the devil. So which of the horrible people do you want? That’s more of the question. Do you want a pompous braggart who doesn’t know anything about diplomacy? Or do you want a badass bitch who knows how to get shit done? That’s really the question.
That’s really the question!
