Missouri GOP Senate candidate criticized for comparing female Dems to Disney villains

A Missouri GOP Senate candidate is defending a controversial Facebook post in which he compared female Democrats to villains from Disney movies.

Courtland Skyes, who is running in this year’s Republican primary to challenge Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), posted a photo Sunday that compares McCaskill to Ursula from “The Little Mermaid” and Hillary Clinton to Maleficent from “Sleeping Beauty.” The photo also compares Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) to Maleficent in the form of a dragon.

The post is captioned, “Democrats dressing for the jobs they want.”

Hundreds of commenters hit back at Sykes’s post, calling it “bullying” and “inappropriate” and saying he should be “ashamed” of it.

“I would show the GOP but it’s hard to draw pond scum,” wrote one commenter.

“Spoken by a true misogynistic Neanderthal,” wrote another. “Strong women must really threaten you.”

{mosads}

As of publication, the post had garnered 514 shares and 726 comments on Facebook, significantly more than other posts on his page.

Sykes defended the post to Missouri’s Springfield News-Leader, saying it is comparable to Democrats’ criticism of GOP women like presidential adviser Kellyanne Conway, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders and first lady Melania Trump.

“After seeing the way Democrats have attacked strong Conservative women like Conway, Sarah Huckabee Sanders and our First Lady, our campaign rightfully pointed out that Democrats are acting [and dressing] like Disney villains,” Sykes said in a statement. “If Democrats like Claire McCaskill don’t want to be compared to Disney villains then they should stop emulating them.”

Sykes will face off against several other GOP candidates in the state’s August primary, including state attorney general Josh Hawley, who is considered the favorite for the nomination.