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RuPaul's Drag Race's New Contestants Share Their Presidential Slogans
Which queen gets your vote?
RuPaul's Drag Race hits a milestone when its eighth season premieres Monday - a numerical triumph that seems small, really, when you think about how impactful the show has become. Monday marks 100 episodes -- which, you know, Yaaas! -- but having introduced the masses to "throwing shade," "reading," death drops and viral catchphrases ("Not today, Satan"), RuPaul's Drag Race has become a bona fide, all-American pop culture phenomenon.
It has united gay and straight people alike; countless once-reluctant boyfriends are now experts on a good "beat face." RuPaul's Drag Race is also, covertly, a high-concept musing on life masquerading as superb lowbrow TV. You need intelligence and resourcefulness to deliver a killer one-liner while wearing a dress you made from a shower curtain, after all.
"Drag is all about mocking identity," RuPaul told TVGuide.com in an exclusive interview in Los Angeles this week."Throughout the ages, you see there are shamans and court jesters and witch doctors - they all represent what drag represents today, which is 'Don't take yourself, and life, too seriously.' That's drag's role, to remind people this is all an illusion. So have a great time with it."
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Politics is one of those illusions too, he said. "The crap that's going on [in the news media], that's a soap opera. It's not really real," according to RuPaul. "The real politics happen on a daily level, the choices you make on a moment-by-moment basis. People are f---ing hypocrites, you know? That's what drag does - it makes fun of the hypocrisy we employ in our culture."
So what better way then, to meet this season's drag queens - and try to make some sense of the total circus we're all witnessing play out in the news - than have the queens announce their party platforms? TVGuide.com caught up with this season's contestants at the L.A. premiere event, and asked each queen what slogan she'd use if she were running for president.
Robbie Turner,Seattle, WA "I would probably be, "I'll tell you for free."
Laila McQueen, Gloucester, MA "I do not follow politics at all. That is such a loaded question." OK. Say you're running for class president in your high school then. What's your slogan? "Don't beat me up?"
Thorgy Thor, Brooklyn, NY "Champagne for everyone!"
Cynthia Lee Fontaine, Austin, TX "Beautiful as a goddess, funny for all America!"
Naomi Smalls, Redlands, CA "This is Naomi Smalls and free lip fillers for all."
Kim Chi, Chicago, IL "Say hello to yellow!"
Naysha Lopez, Chicago, IL "My campaign slogan. If I wasn't here, Hillary should be."
Acid Betty, Brooklyn, NY "My campaign slogan? Free Medicaid for everybody. I believe in that sh--. Free dental, cause teeth's important. Bernie Sanders! His message, that's mine. I agree with the mother----er."
Bob The Drag Queen, New York, NY "Bob the Drag Queen: Make America Gay Again."
Chi Chi DeVayne, Shreveport, LA "Ugh, I don't know. Let's see. Beef tips and rice for everyone!"
Derrick Barry,Las Vegas, NV "Anything but Donald Trump."
Dax ExclamationPoint, Savannah, GA "Give me your money."
RuPaul's Drag Race premieres Monday, March 7, at 9/8c on Logo.
Watch: How long does it take RuPaul to get into drag?