Most politicians are mortified when a sex tape involving them is released to the public, but one would-be politician purposely released his own sex tape as part of his campaign.
A third-party congressional candidate running in long-time incumbent Jerry Nadler’s (D) district appeared in a porn video he posted to show his support for legalizing sex work, according to the New York Post.
Mike Itkis posted the 13-minute video with adult movie star Nicole Sage to an adult video website as a “conversation piece” because his agenda includes making sex work legal.
“If I would just talk about it, it wouldn’t demonstrate my commitment to the issue,” he told City & State. “And the fact I actually did it was a huge learning experience, and it actually influenced items on my platform.”
“I want to have my issues talked about”
It was Itkis’s first time to have sex on camera, he said.
“I’m very much an introvert,” he said. “I’m kind of a nerd who doesn’t like to be the center of attention if I can avoid it. But I thought the issues I’m trying to address are so important.”
“I wanted to have my issues talked about in some way,” he added.
It seems like Itkis’s plan worked, even if he is still expected to lose to Nadler in November.
Views far out of the mainstream
His views are far out of the mainstream; he describes himself on his campaign page as “Not married. No kids. Not celibate. Atheist” and said that he doesn’t think men should have to pay child support for children they father unless they agree to it ahead of time.
While Nadler did not comment on Itkis’s sex tape, the Republican candidate in the race did.
“You gotta do what you gotta do,” Mike Zumbluskas said, referring to Itkis’s unorthodox way of seeking attention for his campaign.
Now if a Republican pulled such a stunt, the reaction would probably be very different from a constituency that tends more toward family values and finds pornography and sex work to be immoral.