What to know about Hung Cao, Trump’s pick to serve as No. 2 Navy official

The former Virginia Senate candidate and loyal MAGA foot soldier has a history of saying outlandish things about health care, gender, and witchcraft.

President Donald Trump on Thursday nominated Hung Cao, a far-right ideologue and loyalist, to serve as the under secretary of the Navy. 

Cao rose to national prominence last year as a hard-right Republican candidate in Virginia’s US Senate race. Despite speaking at the Republican National Convention and appearances in Virginia with Trump, Cao lost to Sen. Tim Kaine by nine points, which was worse than Trump’s roughly six-point loss in Virginia.

Cao, who also lost a US House race in Virginia in 2022, is a retired Navy captain who came to the US as a refugee from Vietnam in 1975. He served in special operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Somalia. He has never served in elected office.

His politics is informed by the fringes of right-wing media where he is a familiar face. Below is an incomprehensive look at some of the most outlandish things he’s said.

“What we need is alpha males and alpha females who are going to rip out their own guts, eat them and ask for seconds.”

Cao made the statement above in a 2024 debate with Kaine. During his Senate run last year, Cao frequently bashed diversity, equity, and inclusion policies as harmful to the military and disparaged drag queens. At another point in the debate, Cao said, “Never walk in a Target store wearing a red shirt, and never go against an Asian when it comes to math.”

@vadogwoodnews …..say what????? #hungcao #timkaine #ussenator #virginianews #virginia #demsoftiktok ♬ original sound – The Dogwood

“The Wiccan community has really taken over there. We can’t let that happen in Virginia.”

In a 2023 interview with a right-wing pastor, Cao lamented the declining influence of Christianity and warned against the rising influence of witchcraft in California.

Republican candidate Hung Cao tells Christian nationalist Sean Feucht that he’s running for the US Senate in Virginia because wiccans have taken over parts of California and now there is “a lot of witchcraft” and “we can’t let that happen in Virginia.” pic.twitter.com/ML8WtoVe2P

— Right Wing Watch (@RightWingWatch) July 27, 2023

“No one in the US is like, ‘Oh my gosh, I will die if I don’t have health care.'”

Last year while he was working the fringes of the right-wing media, Cao downplayed the importance of health care with the above quote.

Not surprisingly, a March 2024 Gallup survey found that more than 50% of Americans said the availability and affordability of health care is a problem they worry about a great deal.