{"id":171591,"date":"2026-03-23T00:57:34","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T00:57:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/171591\/"},"modified":"2026-03-23T00:57:34","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T00:57:34","slug":"bizarre-moment-aoc-linked-millionaire-gets-drag-queen-to-endorse-him-for-nancy-pelosis-seat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/171591\/","title":{"rendered":"Bizarre moment AOC-linked millionaire gets drag queen to endorse him for Nancy Pelosi\u2019s seat"},"content":{"rendered":"

A millionaire Silicon Valley titan has launched a bid for Nancy Pelosi\u2019s congressional seat <\/a>\u2014 with the backing of a famous drag queen.<\/p>\n

Saikat Chakrabarti<\/a>, 40, shared video of \u201cPeaches Christ\u201d endorsing him on social media on Friday after he announced his intention to run<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Saikat Chakrabarti was endorsed by a drag queen in a social media video. Instagram\/saikatforcongress<\/p>\n

Chakrabarti is a millionaire Silicon Valley titan. Instagram\/saikatforcongress<\/p>\n

In the footage, she says: \u201cSan Francisco has a rare opportunity right now. This congressional race will decide whether we keep accepting business as usual or whether we send someone to Washington willing to actually challenge the systems that created the crises we\u2019re living through.\u201d<\/p>\n

They laughed and smiled their way through the event, where they revealed plans for an April 4 Drag Me To Vote meet in San Francisco.<\/p>\n

Chakrabarti shared video of \u201cPeaches Christ\u201d endorsing him on social media on Friday after he announced his intention to run. Instagram\/saikatforcongress<\/p>\n

But they received a swift backlash online, with many pondering whether Chakrabarti \u2014 controversial congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez\u2019s former chief of staff \u2014 was taking it seriously.<\/p>\n

One wrote: \u201cDude what is this? no one is forcing you to do this? just focus on affordability please.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another posted: \u201cNothing like being dragged to back a billionaire when there is another option who is not a billionaire or a billionaire\u2019s bro.<\/p>\n

\u201cVote Connie Chan. Also, why aren\u2019t y\u2019all supporting the woman of color whose running who is also backed by labor? What is your class analysis here?\u201d<\/p>\n

Saikat Chakrabarti during San Francisco Congressional District 11 Candidate Forum at The Academe at 198 in San Francisco on Wednesday, January 7, 2026.
San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images<\/p>\n

And one more added online: \u201cThe guy has zero track record in San Francisco. Bad choice, Peaches.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chakrabarti will face off against San Francisco City Supervisor Connie Chan and State Senator Scott Wiener in the midterms in June after Pelosi said in November she will step down.<\/p>\n

He has faced a backlash over his wealth in a city struggling with a homeless crisis and soaring house prices, as well as his lack of political experience.<\/p>\n

Saikat Chakrabarti, State Senator Scott Wiener and Supervisor Connie Chan at the San Francisco Congressional District 11 Candidate Forum. San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Wiener earlier this month called him out for the lack of time he has spent in the city, saying: \u201cMy opponent is using his vast personal wealth to try to buy a seat in Congress.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not worth hundreds of millions like he is, but what I do have is decades of real experience delivering for San Francisco.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added on social media: \u201cBeing hyper-rich can buy you a lot of things, but it shouldn\u2019t be able to buy you an election.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chakrabarti worked in technology in Silicon Valley before pivoting to politics and becoming Ocasio-Cortez\u2019s chief of staff who masterminded her Green New Deal.<\/p>\n

He suddenly resigned from her office in 2019 when the feds launched a probe into possible finance misdeeds.<\/p>\n

The inquiry centered on two political action committees he founded \u2014 Brand New Congress and Justice Democrats \u2014 that were meant to support progressive candidates across the country.<\/p>\n

It was later reviewed by the FEC and the agency found no wrongdoing and no charges were ever filed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A millionaire Silicon Valley titan has launched a bid for Nancy Pelosi\u2019s congressional seat \u2014 with the backing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":171592,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[878,2136,10584,57,13305,13289,9,24,63,87,122,124,123,8725,13881,58],"class_list":["post-171591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-alexandria-ocasio-cortez","tag-california","tag-drag-queens","tag-metro","tag-midterm-elections","tag-nancy-pelosi","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-politics","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news","tag-san-francisco","tag-silicon-valley","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=171591"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171591\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/171592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=171591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=171591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=171591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}