The call for former Richmond radio host John Reid to withdraw from the race to become Virginia’s next lieutenant governor intensified on Friday afternoon with the addition of Washington, D.C.-based radio host John Fredericks, the publisher of The Virginia Star.
Strongly denying the allegations, Reid confirmed on Friday to The Richmonder that Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) asked him to withdraw from the race that morning, telling the outlet that the governor informed him, “there were salacious pictures on the internet reposted by an account that uses my Instagram handle.”
These images are alleged to be sexually explicit and were reportedly posted to a blog on the social media platform Tumblr. Pornographic materials were allowed on the platform until 2018, when it was popular among the LGBT community. The platform relaxed its policies regarding nudity again in 2022.
Reid, who is gay and in a long-term relationship with his partner, Alonzo Mable, told The Richmonder that Youngkin’s call was “the second overt attempt to try to force me from the race,” and described the claims as “malicious and salacious lies.”
Though Reid (pictured above) did not respond to multiple attempts by The Star to obtain a comment on the claims levied against him, he posted a video to social media on Friday afternoon, new details about the allegations.
Reid specifically stated that two political operatives contacted him weeks ago warning that images of him and Able at a drag show that ruin his career, but that he decided to press forward with the campaign.
He then claimed that Youngkin called him and asked him to withdraw from the race without giving him an opportunity to review the evidence against him. Stressing that he did not create, own, or operate the account, Reid said the Tumblr blog did not contain explicit images of him, but rather was used to share such images of models and adult film actors.
Reid seemed to acknowledge part of this narrative in an April 17 post to the social media platform X, when he wrote that “shady political people” planned to use photographs of him and Mable against him, calling the plan “ridiculous,” and himself “the most transparent candidate EVER to run for office in Virginia.”
ATTENTION: Since some shady anonymous political people have decided to “reveal” personal pictures of me and Alonzo and pretend that they’re pornography…. (Ridiculous)
Lemme show you some of my favorite pictures from the 78,000 pictures that I have on social media.
After 20… pic.twitter.com/W6Pb0NZUHx
— John Reid (@JohnReid4VA) April 17, 2025
Youngkin’s Spirit of Virginia political action committee confirmed the phone call in a statement to The Star, explaining, “The Governor was made aware late Thursday of the disturbing online content.”
According to the spokesman, “Friday morning, in a call with Mr. Reid, the Governor asked him to step down as the Lt. Governor nominee.”
Fredericks said in a Friday statement to The Star that Reid should withdraw from the race to place Virginia Republicans in the best possible position to win this November.
“John Reid is a friend and a colleague of mine. He competed with me in morning drive in Richmond radio for seven years. I have a lot of respect for how he handles his craft. He ran a really good campaign for lieutenant governor, and his conservative credentials are not in question,” said Fredericks.
Acknowledging that Reid is the Republican nominee, and “has every right to maintain that position,” Fredericks stated, “I believe unequivocally that John Reid needs to drop out of this race.”
Fredericks compared the allegations levied against Reid to those levied against former North Carolina Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson, who lost his 2024 gubernatorial campaign in a landslide after it was claimed that Robinson made a series vulgar statements on explicit websites over several years as Robinson sued over the reporting, before stating that withdrawing would be in the best interest of Virginia Republicans:
When Governor Youngkin called John Reid and requested he withdraw from the ticket, I believe that the governor’s decision has to be taken very seriously. Governor Youngkin is trying to avoid in Virginia what happened to Mark Robinson in North Carolina in 2024.
This is not about John Reid’s sexuality. This is strictly about political viability. We all have to be the adults in the room. There’s a lot at stake. The governor is right in asking for a new nominee based on the facts as they were presented to him.”
Fredericks ultimately said he supported Youngkin in calling for Reid to withdraw from the race.
“As the only Republican leader that has turned Virginia around in 20 years, Youngkin’s political instincts have to be taken very seriously. I’m with Governor Youngkin on this, and I also call for my friend, John Reid, to do the right thing for the party and to drop out of the race now so we can nominate a politically viable nominee who can win,” said Fredericks. “All of this garbage online might not be true, but it is still a huge problem for the rest of the year. John Reid can’t win, and his candidacy could sink the ticket.”
Fredericks also commended Youngkin for the call, adding, “Glenn Youngkin has the political savvy to understand the reality of the situation. He took bold and decisive action. He’s right.”
Still, one member of the Virginia Republican Party State Executive Committee told The Star that Youngkin’s call was the wrong decision.
“I just don’t understand what salacious photographs. There’s a salacious headline about salacious photos that don’t exist. This isn’t salacious. This is what they did to Donald Trump for how many years?” The RPV executive committee member questioned.
The committee member told The Star, “He won the nomination fair and square,” adding that Reid secured endorsements by U.S. Representative Rob Wittman (R-VA-01), Attorney General Jason Miyares, and Lieutenant Governor Winsome Sears, before directly questioning Youngkin’s political expertise.
“How many races has Glenn Youngkin won in the last three years? He won his race. We lost the House. We lost the Senate. We didn’t win for Trump. I mean, what’s the cachet of the Youngkin brand right now? Besides cash donations, where’s the winning of the Youngkin brand? Because I don’t see it,” the committee member told The Star.
“Everything about the people guiding the top of our party are idiots. They have an inauthentic message,” the member added. “It’s like these people don’t talk to real people. Go talk to some moms. You want to know why Glenn won? Go talk to the moms who put him in. They don’t.”
The party insider concluded, “They’re all at a cocktail party crafting some great tweet. I don’t know what these people believe John Reid would do as a gay conservative man that would threaten their life. What is it that he would do?”
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “John Reid” by John Reid. Background Photo “Virginia Capitol” by Ron Cogswell. CC BY 2.0.
