Democratic San Diego Rep. Scott Peters said people are assuming his Republican opponent is a moderate because he is gay.
"And now he's saying, now he's saying, 'Well, I'm a gay man, I must be moderate. I'm pro-choice, I'm pro-environment.' And I gotta tell ya, around the country, where people don't know him, they completely buy it," Peters said of his opponent former San Diego city councilman Carl DeMaio. "Carl DeMaio has gotten more—it's so unusual for them to see a gay man running as a Republican."
The video was flagged by from Republican opposition research group America Rising.
Later in the video, which was filmed at the Clairemont Democrat Club Meeting on Aug. 12, Peters says DeMaio has gotten "puff pieces" in national news outlets and says (incorrectly) there are no black Republicans in Congress.
He's gotten stories in The Wall Street Journal, he's gotten stories in the National Journal, all puff pieces about how this great, new, moderate, gay Republican is coming out and running for office. And they're very psyched about it. And the Republicans in D.C., they love this.
They think, 'Wow, this guy is gonna change our party' because all they need—they don't have any out, gay members of Congress, the Republicans don't. They also don't have any African Americans. They're gonna get one and Mia Love in Utah is just a real right-wing person.
While there are no black members of the House who are Republicans, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina is a Republican.