A GOP Congressional Candidate Has Been Accused Of Having A ‘Bigfoot Erotica’ Fetish, To The Delight Of The Internet

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The race for Virginia’s hotly contended 5th Congressional District took a bizarre turn on Sunday night, and it involves Bigfoot erotica. Yes, you read that correctly. Democratic candidate Leslie Cockburn is running against Republican Denver Riggleman, who has been criticized for campaigning alongside Senate candidate and member of the “fringe right” Corey Stewart. Stewart himself has drawn harsh criticism from fellow Republicans due to his alleged ties to White Supremacists — however that has absolutely nothing to do with this scandal in particular.

On Sunday evening, Cockburn tweeted screenshots of her opponent’s Instagram account (which is now private) showcasing his apparent interest in the mating habits of Bigfoot. “My opponent Denver Riggleman, running mate of Corey Stewart, was caught on camera campaigning with a white supremacist,” she wrote. “Now he has been exposed as a devotee of Bigfoot erotica. This is not what we need on Capitol Hill.”

Riggleman’s fetish was first noticed last week by Cook Political Report editor David Wasserman, in an overview of the 42 open Republican seats.

Riggleman ran a short-lived campaign for governor last year and has a libertarian streak. He says he’ll join the Freedom Caucus, but supports decriminalizing marijuana and opposes the locally polarizing Atlantic Pipeline project. However, the most curious element of Riggleman’s background may be a recently-deleted Facebook author page appearing to promote a self-published book titled “The Mating Habits of Bigfoot and Why Women Want Him.”

At least one Republican attributes Riggleman’s literary musings to his offbeat sense of humor. After all, his Instagram account profile reads: “Own a distillery, consult on DoD matters and had a fun run for Governor. Love whiskey, hate tyranny and embrace liberty. Whiskey Rebellion always!” But that account, since set to private, was once peppered with images of what can only be described as Bigfoot-themed erotic art.

Curious, indeed.

At any rate, the whole thing really blew up after Cockburn’s tweets on Sunday night, and “Bigfoot” quickly became a top trending topic on Twitter as everyone piled on in glee.

https://twitter.com/bessbell/status/1023767524964356097

https://twitter.com/jonrosenberg/status/1023756487104053248

https://twitter.com/pattymo/status/1023779556291997699

https://twitter.com/behindyourback/status/1023786424582189061

On Monday morning, Riggleman issued a statement on Twitter, which at this point, is like trying to put out a forest fire with an eyedropper.

It’s unclear what impact, if any, this revelation will have on the upcoming election, but either way Riggleman will now be forever known as the “Bigfoot porn guy,” so there’s something.