Tinder-Gate: Dem Candidate Caught in Online Dating Scandal
What a surprise: The party of Carlos Danger has yet another online dating liar.
According to a report in the San Joaquin Valley Sun earlier this week, Democrat California state Assemblyman Rudy Salas — who hopes to flip a Republican U.S. House seat blue in the November midterms — was caught misrepresenting his age on dating apps Tinder and Bumble.
While Salas is in his mid-40s, the lawmaker made himself 11 years younger on his profiles, in spite of the fact he’s one of the state’s top Democrats.
(This may be a little lie, albeit a funny one. Make no mistake, though: The Democrats are lying to you about bigger things, and Salas is vying to be part of the party’s national legislative machine. Here at The Western Journal, we’ll keep bringing readers the truth about the broken promises of the left — and how they’ll try to brush them away in the run-up to this November’s midterms. You can help us by subscribing.)
Salas, who was first elected to the state assembly in 2012, is the nominee in the newly drawn 22nd Congressional District, where he’ll likely face off against GOP Rep. David Valadao. In what promises to be a bleak year for the Democrats, Salas was seen as one opportunity to flip a red seat — particularly since, as KGET-TV reported, the redrawn district includes more Democrats.
Had a great time knocking on doors and talking to voters this past weekend. Great responses and lots of support. #StrongerTogether #ValleyStrong pic.twitter.com/UCwdk0mcK1
— Rudy Salas Jr (@rudysalasjr) June 1, 2022
Now, he’s apologizing for creepily misrepresenting his age on dating apps — “one of the cardinal sins of online dating,” as the Sun noted.
Two screenshots obtained by the Sun show pictures of a user named “Rudy” who lists his age as 34. Salas is 45.
It just so happens “Rudy” also went to the University of California of Los Angeles and works for the “Government” as an “Agent” — just like Salas did and (in a vague way) does!
If @rudysalasjr is willing to lie about his age to get a date what else is he lying about? #CA22 https://t.co/JWhB5dcBVd
— NRCC (@NRCC) May 31, 2022
“World Traveler,” his profile reads. “Let’s smile, laugh and enjoy the journey of life bc let’s face it it’s better together together than alone.”
“Rudy” included emoji flags of the United States, Mexico and Spain, followed by the words, “Never Married…” The profile itself had emojis of an airplane, headphones, a taco, a basketball player and a Pisces symbol.
In his Bumble profile, meanwhile, Salas ironically said his favorite qualities are “Honesty, Loyalty & a Good heart.” On the first count, he apparently doesn’t mean for himself, just for whoever mistakes him for being 34.
Meanwhile, he said his “zombie apocalypse plan” was to “Live out the apocalypse and rebuild society… and do some fun **** along the way.”
The screenshots were taken by a female who uses both Bumble and Tinder and was visiting the southern San Joaquin Valley, the Sun reported.
In their first report, the Sun noted that Salas’ office had “failed to respond to requests before publication” to comment on “confirmation that the five-term California Assemblyman and Congressional contender is an active dating app user and for clarification on the sizable age gap on the profiles.” On Wednesday, Salas would confirm that he and “Rudy” were the same person.
“I made a mistake,” Salas told the Sun. “It won’t happen again.”
You almost have to give Salas credit for this lie. He’s already one of the highest-profile politicians in the region — and he’s about to become the highest-profile local candidate in California’s Central Valley during the 2022 midterm cycle.
According to House Majority PAC communications director C.J. Warnke, the Democratic political action committee is running a six-figure ad campaign for Salas. There’s likely to be significant money pouring into the race from elsewhere, as well. What’s “Rudy” going to say to his date when they notice an ad for him appearing on TV — particularly after they check out his website and find out he’s not anywhere in the neighborhood of 34?
ICYMI: Today we launched a six-figure ad campaign in support of Assemblymember Rudy Salas in #CA22. The campaign includes:
✅A new television ad running through the primary election
✅Spanish and English digital ads
✅Bilingual direct mail pieces https://t.co/3HU1sbSQbc
— CJ Warnke (@cjwarnke) May 26, 2022
This isn’t the first time a Democrat has been caught lying about themself while trying to get some lovin’ online, it’s worth noting. Former Rep. Anthony Weiner of New York famously got caught calling himself “Carlos Danger” while engaged in explicit online exchanges with a young woman in 2012 and 2013. (Weiner was married to Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin.)
This had a remarkably less-humorous ending, as Mr. Weiner would eventually go to prison for sexting a 15-year-old girl. (The investigation into that episode also prompted the most jarring October surprise in presidential campaign history, as you may remember.)
Salas hasn’t gotten the attention of James Comey quite yet, but that doesn’t mean this unsettling lie won’t have consequences.
“This is creepy. If Rudy Salas is willing to lie about his age to get a date what else is he lying about?” said National Republican Campaign Committee spokeswoman Torunn Sinclair.
Look at the bright side, voters in California’s 22nd Congressional District: Rudy Salas is already telling you what kind of politician he is before he even sets foot in the U.S. Capitol building as your representative. You can take appropriate steps to ensure that never happens.
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