GOP Rep Posts Naked Man’s Photo in Wild Fight With Rival Congressman
Is Representative Derrick Van Orden doing OK?

Elected Republicans these days seem to view the gravity of their office with naked contempt—but this Wisconsin representative took it to a whole new level.
Republican Representative Derrick Van Orden tweeted out a picture of a nude dude with a ski mask, tagging his Democratic peer: This you?

It’s the latest incident in a long line of political beef between Van Orden and Democratic Representative Mark Pocan, both congressmen from Wisconsin. Van Orden wrote in the post, “Looks like @MarkPocan is taking a little European VaCa after his long series of struggle sessions. Enjoy your time, Mark, wear sunscreen.”
Pocan responded to the photo (which was not of him) saying, “KKKlassy, Derrick, KKKlassy.”
Van Orden, a MAGA Republican who has spouted the kind of racist America First rhetoric common on the right, then doubled down in his response, saying: “So you running around flashing your naked self in Europe with a sex toy taped to a stick makes me a white supremacist? Do you have any idea how ugly this makes you look?”
Pocan retorted, accusing Van Orden of being drunk—a favorite attack of the Democratic congressman who, during an argument live on TV, said to Van Orden, “Are you drinking right now?”
Pocan, a progressive voice in Congress, has been a member of the House since 2012 when he ran for now-Senator Tammy Baldwin’s old seat. Van Orden was first elected in 2022 after a failed run in 2020 endorsed by Donald Trump. The two congressmen first exchanged verbal blows in 2021 during Van Orden’s reelection campaign, over Van Orden’s presence at the rally turned insurrection on January 6, 2021, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Former Republican Representative Reid Ribble, who considers himself a friend to both men, seemed a bit tired of the back-and-forth.
“It’s all just nonsense,” he told the Journal Sentinel. “But they can’t seem to let go of it.”