Every Instagram user should have supportive friends like state Sen. Randy McNally, Tennessee’s lieutenant governor. But today not everybody is viewing that support in the same way.
The Oak Ridge lawmaker was exposed on Thursday for posting friendly emojis and encouraging comments on the social media account of a 20-year-old gay former Knoxville man who is pictured nearly naked in many of his photos.
“Super look” was one comment the 79-year-old McNally posted on a photo of the backside of the man, who the Tennessee Holler, a progressive/activist news site, identified as Franklyn McClur. “You can turn a rainy day into rainbows and sunshine,” he said on another post.
The lieutenant governor’s office, in a response, did not deny the comments or say his account had been hacked but portrayed the husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather as a prolific social media user and encourager.
“Trying to imply something sinister or inappropriate about [his] use of social media says more about the mind of the left-wing operative making the implication than it does about Randy McNally,” the statement noted. “As anyone in Tennessee politics knows, Lt. Governor McNally is a prolific social media commenter. He takes great pains to view every post he can and frequently posts encouraging things to many of his followers. Does he always use the proper emoji at the proper time? Maybe not. But he enjoys interacting with constituents and Tennesseans of all religions, backgrounds and orientations on social media. He has no intention of stopping.”