Lt. Gov. Randy McNally (R)Tennessee Lt. Gov. Randy McNally (R) faced questions about his Instagram activity from reporters earlier this week after media news site TN Holler reported on his history of posting fire and heart emojis on photos of a 20-year-old gay man’s revealing photos.
McNally apparently has a habit of liking and commenting on musician Franklyn McClur’s posts featuring the young man in little more than underwear.
For example, in the post screen capped below, which shows a closeup of Franklyn’s butt, McNally commented on saying, “Finn, you can turn a rainy day into rainbows and sunshine!” That was followed by three heart emojis and three fire emojis.
WKRN News 2 in Tennessee spoke with Franklyn, who says that McNally began following him in 2020. He added that while the Lt. Governor has sent compliments by direct message, the two have never met in person.
Reps for McNally attempted to spin the story into just being about a senior who might not quite grasp the subtleties of social media.
A statement from McNally’s office read:
“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. 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. Does he always use the proper emoji at the proper time? Maybe not. But he enjoys interacting with constituents and Tennesseans of all religions, backgrounds, and orientations on social media. He has no intention of stopping.”
NEW: Lt. Governor Randy McNally was caught frequently commenting on another man's suggestive Instagram photos from his verified account.
His press team says "he has no intention of stopping."@NC5 pic.twitter.com/0d4nSnL8we— Hunter Hoagland (@HunterHoagland) March 9, 2023
Is there anything wrong with commenting on social media? No, of course not.
But as many pointed out, McNally and his fellow Republicans in the state legislature just passed two anti-LGBTQ bills including the legislation to ban drag shows in public, which McNally voted for.
The issue isn’t the commenting, it’s the hypocrisy.
Oh, McNally also seems to ‘Like’ trans women as well.