Dean Browning ran for an open seat in the U.S. House of Representatives but lost in the 2020 Pennsylvania Republican primaries. His Twitter bio says he’s a “proud pro-life & pro-2A Christian conservative dedicated to enacting common sense solutions to Keep America Great,” and a former Lehigh County Commissioner.
But on Tuesday Browning posted a tweet that reads: “I’m a black gay guy and I can personally say that Obama did nothing for me, 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.”
Here’s a screenshot. The tweet was deleted after being up for over five hours.
Browning’s candidate profile shows he opposes same-sex marriage and abortion in almost all cases. He says it’s his “heartfelt desire…to serve the citizens of the PA-7th Congressional District and our great nation and through that to bring glory to Almighty God and His Son, Jesus Christ.”
Browning is the chairman of Common Sense Solutions PAC, which “works tirelessly to expose hidden hypocrisies and uncover the truth.”
“CSSPAC serves to hold Elected Officials responsible for their actions, whether they are incumbents or running for office.”
In an email Browning told NCRM, “I was quoting a message that I received earlier this week from a follower. Sorry if context was not clear.”
The context, as many note regarding the now-viral tweet, was not clear. Some suggest he might have a “burner” account but accidentally posted to his real one.
Here’s the tweet in context:
It’s unclear why Browning did not put the quote in quotation marks or in any way indicate he was quoting someone else, as he claims. NCRM asked for a copy of the message he says he was sent. Browning says it came from a 90210 ZIP code.
Others, including this Georgetown professor, seem to think this is Browning’s “totally real black gay conservative follower”:
The Washington Post’s Philip Bump notes Purdy replies to Browning frequently:
UPDATE:
Browning says this tweet is from the person who sent him the quote.
UPDATE II:
The Twitter account allegedly from the person who sent Browning the quote has been suspended.