A Democratic New York congressional candidate stripped to a Disney song and appeared to twerk at a nightclub in December 2019, according to a report and resurfaced video.
Ex-Army officer Brittany Ramos DeBarros, a Democratic socialist running to replace Republican New York Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, took off her camouflage uniform and danced in red lingerie at Starr Bar in Flatbush, New York. The now-candidate took the stage name “Captain Unbecoming” at the time, the New York Post reported.
After appearing to twerk on stage alongside two other women, DeBarros fully stripped the top half of her body to the Disney song “Let It Go,” the outlet reported.
“I was a captain in the army. I was deployed to Afghanistan,” she told the audience, video shows. “I was like, this is bullish*t.” She said all of the dancers are ” post-9/11 military veterans” to protest on behalf of “anti-war, anti-imperialist and anti-racist” activism.
The footage was posted to her Instagram with the hashtag #dropbootiesnotbombs, according to the New York Post. She expressed the “liberating” feeling of taking the army uniform off on stage. (RELATED: Rep. Rashida Tlaib Caught Partying Maskless With Large Crowd In CDC ‘Orange Zone’)
“When you see me pause and cover my face in the first video it’s because I’m actually overwhelmed with emotion and how liberating it felt to angrily tear that uniform off in front of an audience,” she reported wrote. “I’m proud of this show and it still brings me so much joy to watch myself step into long undernourished pleasure and passion.”
The Instagram post has since been removed following the New York Post’s story.
DeBarros was deployed to Afghanistan in 2012, and has since become highly critical of the war with claims that she was almost court-martialed for publicly sharing her criticisms, the outlet reported.
Hank Sheinkopf, a Democratic strategist, told the outlet that the footage will only make it harder for Democrats to get elected in Staten Island.
“In Staten Island where you have a disproportionate number of police, corrections officers and other law enforcement personnel who have served in the armed forces, this burlesque making fun of the armed forces will not go over well,” he said. “In the era when Democrats are seen as disorderly and out of control, all this does is make it more difficult to elect Democrats.”
FEC records show that the candidate has raised over $350,000 since January from mostly out-of-state donors, according to the outlet. She received backlash for attempting to raise money after Hurricane Ida, which killed at least 13 New Yorkers.
She is running against former Democratic Rep. Max Rose, who also served in the military, in the upcoming Democratic primary, according to the New York Post.