Former Congressman Says the RNC Is the "Grindr Super Bowl"

"Just come out of the closet, boys!"

Wherever You Are

Former New York congressman and well-known fabulist George Santos has a word of advice for any political operatives covertly using the popular gay hookup app Grindr while attending the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee this week.

In a video on X-formerly-Twitter, Santos seemed to reference a satirical headline from comedian Dash McIntyre, whose "Halfway Post" account earlier in the week quipped that "an executive of the gay dating app Grindr says the Republican National Convention is 'basically Grindr’s Super Bowl.'"

"So, Grindr executives are calling the RNC convention 'the Grindr Super Bowl,'" said Santos, whose penchant for lies became so egregious that he was straight-up expelled from Congress for it at the end of 2023.

While it's unclear whether or not Santos, who claims he met his husband on the app, was aware that "The Halfway Post" is satirical, the advice he offered seemed to be from the heart.

"Let me tell you something: just come out of the closet boys! Come on, it's fun!" the one-time drag queen exclaimed. "You can be gay and conservative. But look, Grindr's already outing you, based on the hits, and guess who's in town. It's all you conservatives."

Life Imitates Art

Satire aside, there's plenty of evidence and precedent suggesting Grindr usage does indeed spike during the GOP convention.

Back in 2016, Vice reported based on data from the app that Cleveland, which hosted that year's RNC, experienced an influx of white men using it around the same time it was taking place.

In a statement to the outlet, a representative from the company — a real one, this time — said that "more than a thousand guys have used the app near the Quicken Loans Arena" where the convention was held. Doing some simple math, Vice calculated that with about 20,000 attendees, that would mean roughly five percent of the people who went to that year's RNC were using the app.

This year's RNC might not be too different.

In one post, for instance, one user said she "checked out Grindr at the RNC's exact location" and found several profiles with display names referencing the convention and being on the "down-low," a term used to suggest men who are in the closet and looking to hook up discreetly. 

"It did not disappoint," that user said.

While it's an open question as to whether satire that is too convincing to its subjects can be considered effective, the case of the RNC being Grindr's Super Bowl is, if nothing else, a hilarious example of life imitating art.

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