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Trixie Mattel Battles Drag Race Stan in the Twitter Coliseum

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the stage … Photo-Illustration: Vulture. Photos: Getty Images

Please, Elon, don’t allow Twitter to die under your (seemingly incompetent) watch. Because where else could we possibly get content like Republican congressman and prolific liar George Santos facing off against Lisa Frank serial killer and RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars season-three winner Trixie Mattel? In a recent Twitter spat, the anti-LGBT politician and Mattel faced off, gladiator style (using snarky replies), with the winner being whoever could accrue the most likes, obviously. Santos tweeted his disapproval of his many late-night portrayals on January 23, saying, “I have now been enshrined in late night TV history with all these impersonations, but they are all TERRIBLE so far.” Mattel responded with a fair and measured critique, offering up that “maybe the source material was weak.”

Things took a surprising turn when Santos, a member of a specifically anti-drag party who has been denying reports that he was once a drag queen in Brazil under the name “Kitara Ravache,” responded with a Drag Race reference. “Clearly you know all about weak acting skills,” the real-life Mr. Ripley said, along with a GIF of Mattel’s (admittedly atrocious) performance as RuPaul in the All Stars 3 Snatch Game.

Later that night, Mattel responded with the sentient bag of lies’ own words: “I am not an actor! I was young and I had fun at a festival!” Santos again mentioned Mattel’s All-Stars run, saying, “It’s all good! I won my race against the fan favorite too.” This was a callback to both Santos’s victory over Robert Zimmerman in the 2022 New York congressional race and Mattel’s victory over Shangela in All-Stars 3, both examples of electoral politics dictating a fraught race. Mattel has not responded, since knowing that much about her run on Drag Race is clearly fan behavior.

Trixie Mattel Battles Drag Race Stan in the Twitter Coliseum