Donald Trump’s Rally Plans Just Got Really Awkward

Donald Trump is due to speak at a rally on March 16 alongside a Republican Senate candidate who has been linked to a 2008 profile seeking sex with men—despite the married father of four campaigning against “radical” LGBTQ “indoctrination” as part of his bid for office.

Business owner Bernie Moreno has received Trump’s support in his bid to become the GOP’s candidate in the Ohio Senate race against Sherrod Brown, the Democratic incumbent, in November. Moreno’s lawyer has denied that the business owner played any part in creating the profile, which they insist was made by a former intern as a prank.

Ohio, previously a key swing state, has swung dramatically to the Republicans in recent years, with Trump carrying the state in both the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections. This makes Brown a key target for the GOP as it seeks to capture the Senate, where Democrats hold a wafer-thin majority of 51 to 49.

Ahead of Saturday’s rally, Moreno is facing questions about a 2008 profile on Adult Friend Finder, a sexual hookup website, seeking “young guys to have fun with while traveling.” User data from the website was leaked after a major data breach in 2016, and according to the Associated Press, the account was linked to Moreno’s work email at the time.

The account listed Moreno’s birthday, and its username—nardo19672—appears to be a reference to his full name Bernardo and his birth in February 1967.

Speaking to the AP, Moreno’s campaign team said the account had been created as a prank by Dan Ricci—the senate hopeful’s former intern and friend who, according to financial records, donated $6,599 to his campaign in 2023.

In a statement provided by Moreno’s team, Ricci said: “I am thoroughly embarrassed by an aborted prank I pulled on my friend, and former boss, Bernie Moreno, nearly two decades ago.” Charles Harder, Moreno’s lawyer, added the Republican “had nothing to do with the AFF account,” the AP reported.

On Saturday, Trump is due to headline a rally in support of Moreno, his preferred Republican candidate, near Dayton, Ohio. Moreno is seeking the GOP Senate nomination against Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose and state Senator Matt Dolan.

In a statement provided to Newsweek, Steven Cheung, the Trump campaign’s communications director, said: “The leftwing media is obsessed with destroying anyone who supports the America First movement and this ridiculous slime job is simply more proof that Bernie Moreno is a threat to the entire swamp.

“It’s shameful and embarrassing that the AP ran with this story when they themselves were forced to acknowledge that they had no evidence showing that Bernie had anything to do with the account in question and that instead it was made by a former intern. The fake news is truly the enemy of the people!”

Newsweek contacted Moreno’s senate campaign for comment by online contact form at 4:50 a.m. ET Friday.

On social media, Moreno’s campaign has accused both LaRose and Dolan of supporting a “radical trans agenda,” and the AP reports that Moreno accused supporters of LGBTQ rights of promoting a “radical” campaign of “indoctrination.”

A recently aired television advert funded by Buckeye Values, a pro-Moreno super PAC, showed LaRose superimposed against a rainbow flag while labeling him a “champion for trans equality,” the report continued.

Speaking to Politico, Ohio GOP Senator J.D. Vance warned the heated battle between Republican rivals for the nominee could hurt the party’s eventual candidate.

He said: “It’s pretty ugly. Unfortunately, we’re at a phase where there’s a lot of negative advertising. I think, obviously, that will eventually harm the nominee.

“The more negative dollars you spend attacking each other, the more it makes it harder. We’ve certainly learned that the hard way.”

On March 12, Trump won a number of Republican primaries, pushing him over the line to be the party’s presumptive presidential candidate for the 2024 election.

Earlier this week, during an appearance on Greg Kelly’s Newsmax show, Trump said he had “a couple of people” in mind as his potential running mate “that you may know very well.”