‘Queer Eye’ Star Under Fire for Saying ‘Not All Republicans Are Racist’

Jonathan Van Ness, left, and Antoni Porowski attend a Special Event with "Queer Eye&q
Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP
Ben Kew

Queer Eye star Jonathan Van Ness faced criticism from some of his supporters this week are declaring that not all people who vote Republican are racist.

Following Tuesday’s primary results, Van Ness took to Twitter to urge Democrats not to nominate hard-left candidates in primary races for the upcoming midterm elections.

“Luckily a lot [of] extreme right people won yesterday, meaning that if we can come up w center left candidates we can take back the house & senate, not to mention many state legislatures,” he wrote on Twitter after Tuesday’s primary races. “It is so important for the left to not go too left or we are done for.”

“Not all republicans are racist. Just like not all democrars [sic] are evil, we have to stop demonizing each other,” he continued. “Unless you’re actually racist then you suck, Trump is Racist – not all his voters are necessarily we gotta remember we are all in this together.”

However, his advice appeared to go down badly with many of his followers, who accused him of demonizing the left and pandering to racists:

https://twitter.com/jizzywinks/status/1029752151533338627?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1029752151533338627&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thewrap.com%2Fqueer-eye-star-jonathan-van-ness-attacked-online-after-saying-not-all-republicans-are-racist%2F

However, Van Ness refused to back down on his claims, arguing that the only way to heal the political divide is through compromise and mutual understanding.

“Being able to compromise is what’s missing from both sides of the American political situation & the sooner we all get to a place of mutual understanding the sooner we will get out of this mess,” he wrote.

The 31-year-old hairdresser, who also stars in the web series Gay of Thrones, also took to Periscope to explain his remarks, declaring that the left must learn not to demonize conservatives.

“I decided to tweet political things today and you know that can go one of two ways,” he said in the clip. “Left people are not necessarily inherently evil and right people are not necessarily inherently evil and our ability to notice gray area and to notice what compromise means and how much compromise has led us to where we are is important… We have to be able to not demonize the right.”

Follow Ben Kew on Facebook, Twitter at @ben_kew, or email him at bkew@breitbart.com.

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