Fact Checking Claims that Biden Hired a Drag Queen to Work in the Department of Energy

Sam Brinton is a deputy assistant secretary, but he is not a “Biden nominee.’

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Viral social media posts claim that President Joe Biden has hired a drag queen to head up the Department of Energy’s nuclear waste issues efforts.

https://twitter.com/MillerStream/status/1491900120803151872

These claims are largely true. Sam Brinton became deputy assistant secretary of Spent Fuel and Waste Disposition in the Energy Department’s Office of Nuclear Energy in January 2022. Before joining the Department of Energy, Brinton was most famous as an gender non-binary activist, and made headlines for wearing a gender-fluid outfit to the 2018 Academy Awards ceremony. The picture accompanying some of the posts is Brinton in the Academy Awards outfit. 

The Daily Mail reported that Brinton was a member of a drag queen group called the Order of Perpetual Indulgence, including a picture from Brinton’s Instagram account showing Brinton at a Sisters of the Order of Perpetual Indulgence event. 

The Department of Energy told the Washington Examiner that while Brinton was being considered for a career appointment, the role is not a political appointment. So, while Brinton is joining the Department of Energy, Brinton is not a “Biden nominee” as some have claimed. 

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  1. Avatar photo
    Logical

    What if he is? The fact check doesn't elaborate on the qualifications for the job and if the candidate has relevant background to do the job. If yes, consider like any other candidate. But don't hire an unqualified "non drag queen".

    Who cares if he is a drag queen?

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    1. Ingenero.lux

      Yep. Not hiring someone because they do legal things you dislike in their non-work hours is wrong to illegal, and supremely stupid. This stuff just gets stupider all the time.

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      1. Avatar photo
        George.Skinner

        Republicans didn't seem to think it was disqualifying to hire somebody who bragged about being able to sexually assault women, and paid off a porn star to cover up a tryst while his wife was pregnant. The pearl-clutching is a bit precious.

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          Anne W (Raw5254)

          Okay, we all know what a slimy person Trump is. But, if you’re going to use that one, then don’t forget about JFK and Clinton, etc. I know, Democrats are probably more open minded about that sort of thing, but this need to point out something we are all perfectly aware of is getting old.

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          1. Pat Riot

            Trump committed a crime that, had he not committed it, he would almost certainly have lost the election. No president in the US has ever even come close to something like that.

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            George.Skinner

            I don't forget about them either. I do believe this stuff tells you something about a person's character, and character is essential for somebody who's holding the power and responsibility of the president.

            A lot of politicians and powerful people are depressingly flawed in this way. Even Eisenhower, who I think was an exemplary president, was unfaithful to his wife and had long-lasting relationships with mistresses. It's even possible that the most morally upright ones aren't great either, because they lack the humility of being a flawed person and understanding those flaws in others (I'm thinking Carter and Obama here.)

            Surely we can do better than elect politicians who are surrounded in a perpetual haze of sleaze and scandal like the Clintons and Trump, though. The cross-dressing DOE official seems weird, but it's not the security risk it used to be (hey, if the pictures are all public, seems obvious they're not going to be blackmailed with them...) And as somebody who's worn a Star Trek costume to conventions in my younger days, who am I to judge what's weird and beyond the pale?

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