A Republican candidate in Virginia‘s statewide elections is in hot water for allegedly being linked to a social media account chock-full of gay porn, but he says it’s an extortion tactic.
Candidate for Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, John Reid, who is gay and married, was asked last week by Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin to drop his bid for office because of explicit social media posts on a Tumblr account with the same handle Reid has used on other sites.
The handle in question, ‘jrdeux,’ has been used by the candidate on Instagram and its sister site Threads. Reid’s husband, Alonzo Mable, even tagged his spouse in social media posts using the ‘jrdeux’ moniker.
More controversial is a Tumblr account by the same name, which has posted a litany of gay pornographic images and kinks, like toe sucking.
However, Reid, a former radio host who is the first openly-gay candidate to ever run for statewide office in Virginia, has denied the Tumblr account is his. He is now saying that Youngkin’s political operation is extorting him with further damaging information if he does not drop out of the contest.
‘I can tell you that’s not my account,’ Reid said in a five-minute video posted on X last week addressing the controversy as pressure mounts on him to drop out of the race.
In the clip, Reid notes how he was approached by individuals who warned him the account could be damaging to his campaign.
‘I demanded to see the evidence, and someone created a social media account with my instagram name, a name, which I’ve had for years, but this fake account reposted nude pictures of other people, models and porn models,’ he says. ‘I can tell you, that’s not my account, and anyone on the internet can open accounts with the same or similar names as other people.’
Republican John Reid said Friday he will continue his campaign to be Virginia’s lieutenant governor and denied he had anything to do with a Tumblr account containing sexually explicit photos that had prompted GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin to call for him to quit the race
Reid has published mutiple videos of himself refuting the claims directly. In the most recent clip, he accused Youngkin’s political operation of ‘extortion,’ noting how they told him damaging information will be released on him until he drops out of the race
The candidate’s Instagram handle is ‘jrdeux,. The same user name on Tumblr has reposted and liked hundreds of sexually explicit images
‘Have I scene porn? Yes. Have I had one night stands? Yes. Are my exes all still in love with me? No,’ Reid, standing in front of a portrait of Youngkin and gubernatorial candidate and current Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears.
‘What more can I possibly tell you? And why am I the candidate who has to answer these questions on this topic? Let’s be honest, it’s because I’m openly gay, and I have never bowed down to the establishment, and I will not.’
In another video posted on Sunday, Reid alleges that he is being extorted.
‘Shockingly, once again, representatives of my campaign have been told by the leader of Governor Youngkin’s political organization that the attacks on me will continue unless I drop out of the race for lieutenant governor,’ Reid stated.
‘They were told that if I dropped out of the race, they would purchase the opposition research and the lies and threats against me would suddenly stop.’
‘This is extortion, and it is illegal in Virginia, and I am more outraged now I have engaged legal counsel to pursue all options against these people,’ he continued.
Though Youngkin is term-limited and cannot run again, he has thrown his weight behind Earle-Sears. Reid’s GOP primary challenger dropped out of the race last week citing health issues, meaning the former radio host is currently running uncontested.
DailyMail.com has reviewed content from the ‘jrdeux’ Tumblr account allegedly connected to Reid, and the content includes hundreds of sexually explicit posts.
DailyMail.com is the first to share images of the now-deleted account.
The Tumblr account ‘jrdeux’ reposted hundreds of sexually explicit images, like the one above
Though none of the images depict Reid, the account has reposted many images depicting naked men or men in sexual acts. Many of the posts were made between 2018 and 2020.
When accessing the ‘jrdeux’ account users get hit with a ‘Mature Content’ warning. Clicking through, users get directed to a blog titled ‘Spankbank’ that is curated by the handle allegedly linked to Reid.
‘No pics are mine&make no claim to them unless stated. Simply sharing those I like,’ the description of the ‘Spankbank’ blog by ‘jrdeux’ reads.
The account, which was deleted last week after news broke of its existence, had hundreds of pictures of naked and partially clothed men.
The images also included men appearing to have sex, and others showed men with foot fetishes.
The account appears to have been active as recently as March 2024, when ‘jrdeux’ liked an image of a fully nude man.
The title of the blog run by ‘jrdeux’ was called ‘Spankbank’
An image reposted by the account shows a man sucking on another’s toes
Many of the blog posts were from years ago between 2018 – 2020, but the account was active at least until March 2024
The account in question reposted an image in 2020 of two men seemingly engaging in sex with the caption ‘taking a walk at the park with my son.’
It also was following a slew of racy accounts, including ‘pissonmedaddy,’ Butt Boys,’ ‘Your Daily Dick Pics,’ and many more profiles sharing explicit content.
‘I haven’t publicly performed or publicly posted anything pornographic,’ Reid said in the video address last week.
‘I’m not a perfect person, I’ve never said it was, but I’m not a liar, and I’m not weak and I’m not going to be bullied,’ he added. ‘I’m sure I’ll have more to say after I speak to lawyers and other officials across the state.’
Virginia’s elections will occur on November 4, 2025.
DailyMail.com has the Virginia governor’s office and Youngkin’s political campaign for comment.
DailyMail.com has also contacted Reid’s campaign for comment.
