A former aide to Donald Trump joked on social media about removing women’s right to vote.
John McEntee, a political adviser who served in the Trump administration and a co-founder of the conservative dating app the Right Stuff, posted a video on X, formerly Twitter, on Monday in which he said: “So I guess they misunderstood. When we said we wanted mail-only voting, we meant male—’M-A-L-E.'”
“Sorry we want MALE only voting. The 19th might have to go,” he added in the video’s caption, referring to the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote.
McEntee’s video has since gone viral, amassing more than 4 million views, 3,800 likes, 1,800 reposts and 2,100 comments.
Evan Vucci/Associated Press
The 10-second video received widespread backlash from X users. Don Frickel, a retired lawyer, wrote on the platform: “He thinks he’s funny. Nope.”
Newsweek contacted McEntee for comment via direct message on X.
Shannon Watts, an anti-gun-violence activist who founded Moms Demand Action, wrote on X, “Donald Trump’s Director of White House personnel posting this a week before Election Day tells you everything you need to know about what a Trump/Vance administration would mean for women’s safety and freedoms.”
Mark Greene, an author and a supporter of Vice President Kamala Harris, wrote: “MAGA bro thinks authoritarianism is hilarious—Project 2025 staffer John McEntee, who was also a Trump aide, says he wants to repeal the 19th Amendment which gave women the right to vote. This is MAGA.”
McEntee worked in HR for Trump’s 2024 campaign and is reportedly a senior adviser for the Heritage Foundation’s 2025 Presidential Transition Project, a political initiative more commonly known as Project 2025.
In November 2021, The Atlantic described the former Trump aide as one of the individuals who helped “set the stage” for the January 6 Capitol attack.
McEntee has previously received criticism for videos he’s posted online. In May, he posted a video on TikTok in which he said he gave fake money to homeless people so they would be arrested when trying to use it. He described his actions as “helping clean up the community” and “getting them off the street.”
In the TikTok video’s caption, he wrote: “Just a joke. Everyone calm down #fyp.” On X, his biography said, “McEntee For US President 2028.”
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