Tennessee is currently leading the nation in anti-LGBTQ hate, with 26 anti-lgbtq bills moving through the legislature. Last week Governor Lee made national news after it was revealed that Governor Lee himself had dressed in drag, on a school campus, in front of minors, back in 1977.
Lee’s hypocrisy made him a laughingstock, even getting him sent up on Saturday Night Live.
Enter Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, who it turns out has been openly leaving heart emojis and other encouraging comments under very racy pics on the instagram page of a young gay male aspiring performer named Franklyn McClur, who grew up in Knoxville. TN Holler reported.
First, here are screenshots of some of the messages. McNally posted them publicly from his government account.
In some, he leaves love hearts and flame emojis. In others, he posted comments, even referring to Franklyn as “Finn”, suggesting they may know each other.
young gay male aspiring performer Franklyn McClur said he and McNally became friends on Facebook a few years ago through a mutual friend. From there, McNally started following him on Instagram. They have never met in person.
“I just thought he was older and out of touch. I’ve always taken it as a compliment. I don’t dislike him or think he’s a bad person, he’s one of the only people who has consistently uplifted me and made me feel good,” Franklyn said of the messages to TN Holler.
Asked if he thought McNally’s account had been hacked, Franklyn pointed out the fact they’d been Facebook friends since around 2020.
. A spokesperson for McNally has now issued a statement blasting the media for raising questions about the exchanges.
“Trying to imply something sinister or inappropriate about a great-grandfather’s use of social media says more about the mind of the left-wing operative making the implication than it does about Randy McNally,” they said. “As anyone in Tennessee politics knows, Lt. Governor McNally is a prolific social media commenter. He takes great pains to view every post he can and frequently posts encouraging things to many of his followers.
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