Former Pennsylvania GOP candidate explains why he tweeted that he’s a ‘Black gay guy’

A former Pennsylvania Republican congressional candidate offered an explanation for tweeting he is a “Black gay guy” when he is actually a white man.

The tweet by Dean Browning, a former Lehigh County commissioner who lost a 2020 primary election for a U.S. House of Representatives seat, went viral Tuesday.

“I’m a black gay guy and I can personally say that Obama did nothing for me,” Browning tweeted. “My life only changed a little bit and it was for the worse. Everything is so much better under Trump though. I feel respected — which I never do when democrats are involved.”

Browning was replying to a Twitter user who criticized President Donald Trump, accusing him of destroying accomplishments from the Obama administration.

Twitter users were quite confused by the comment. Some accused Browning of intending to post the tweet from another account — but forgetting to log off his verified account.

The tweet was deleted. Then Browning posted his explanation.

“Regarding the tweet that is going viral from my account — I was quoting a message that I received earlier this week from a follower,” Browning tweeted. “Sorry if context was not clear.”

A few weeks before the election, Twitter deleted fake accounts posing as Black Trump supporters that generated 265,000 retweets or other interactions, The Washington Post reported. The accounts used generic photos taken from profile pictures of real people, news media and other sources, the newspaper reported.

This story was originally published November 10, 2020 at 5:11 PM with the headline "Former Pennsylvania GOP candidate explains why he tweeted that he’s a ‘Black gay guy’."