Aiden Maese-Czeropski

An aide in the office of Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland has been fired after video allegedly showing that aide having sex with another man in a U.S. Senate hearing room was leaked online.

The video shows a young man wearing a black jock strap kneeling on an elevated table in the hearing room as another man has intercourse with him. U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, a right-wing Republican from Georgia, identified the man as Cardin aide, Aidan Maese-Czeropski. Collins also accused Maese-Czeropski of having said “Free Palestine” to Rep. Max Miller, a Jewish Republican from Ohio. Maese-Czeropski has denied both accusations.

“This has been a difficult time for me, as I have been attacked for who I love to pursue a political agenda,” Maese-Czeropski said in a written statement. “While some of my actions in the past have shown poor judgment, I love my job and would never disrespect my workplace. Any attempts to characterize my actions otherwise are fabricated, and I will be exploring what legal options are available to me in these matters.”

He added, “As for the accusations regarding Congressman Max Miller, I have never seen the congressman and had no opportunity or cause to yell [at] or confront him.”

Right-wingers have, of course, latched on to the video as proof of Democrats’ depravity. Collins posted on X: “Cardin staff wildin’. Making porn at work and yelling ‘free Palestine’ at a Jewish congressman? I have a question: how long would Cardin’s filmmaker last in a free Palestine?”

White nationalist conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer posted on X to try and link Maese-Czeropski to Biden, via a 2020 campaign ad video, and numerous other right-wingers have claimed such incidents happen frequently with Democrats. They, of course, failed to mention the numerous sex scandals involving prominent Republicans, like Trump’s sexual liaison with Stormy Daniels, the video of Madison Cawthorne’s naked in bed with his male cousin, Lauren Boebert’s sexcapades in a theater with her date, Marjorie Taylor Greene’s multiple affairs, Roy Moore’s history of dating underage girls, Moms for Liberty founder Bridget Ziegler’s threesome with her husband and another woman and her husband, Florida GOP Chair Christian Ziegler, being accused of having raped that same woman at a later date …..

We’ll stop there. You get the picture.

— Tammye Nash