CT Republican Defends Sharing Breast Cancer Meme After Backlash

CONNECTICUT — Republican congressional candidate Mike France is facing backlash for a meme he shared in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month in which he offered to "help" women check their breasts.

The initial post from earlier this week — which has since been deleted — featured France's face edited onto the shirtless body of actor Henry Golding from a late 2000s ad in which he held a sign that said "Don't know how to check your breasts? I can help."

In the image's caption, France wrote: "In all seriousness, I wouldn't know the first thing about how to diagnose this terrible disease," along with links to resources from 'actual experts' about breast cancer screenings and charities.

The post drew criticism ranging from general claims of inappropriateness to those suggesting hypocrisy as France was one of three lawmakers who in 2016 voted against legislation requiring insurance coverage of 3D mammograms in Connecticut.

"His creepy Facebook post is just the tip of the iceberg in his record against women’s health and safety," U.S. Representative Joe Courtney, who is running against France, said in a statement obtained by NewsTimes. "Mike voted against improved access to mammograms, protections for domestic violence and sexual assault survivors, and publicly stated he would vote in Congress for a national abortion ban, overturning Connecticut law. Mike France cannot be trusted to protect women’s privacy rights, health, and safety."

State Senator Martha Marx, a New London Democrat, said in her own statement that "This is concrete proof that Mike France and many in the Republican Party are misogynists and tolerate sexist, disgusting behavior toward women."

She continued: "I am outrageously disgusted and insulted by this post and I certainly hope we hear from GOP leadership and candidates about whether conduct like this is acceptable."

A few hours after taking down the post, France took to Facebook to defend himself and re-share the meme with its original art.

"Cited by Marketing Mind as one of the '6 Best Breast Cancer Awareness Ads of All Time,' actor Henry Golding used a little shock value to draw attention to a critical issue," France wrote. "Realizing the importance of breast cancer awareness and, in acknowledgment of October as Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I am using my platform to do the same."

France also fired back at fellow politicians who criticized him, writing that "Name-calling and finger-pointing because you don't find an advertisement to be effective is unbecoming of a public official" and that "Leaping at every opportunity to politicize something does a disservice to our constituents and only further degrades the already-sad political discourse on social media."

He also claimed pride of his voting record, saying that he takes "principled stands against unfunded state mandates and fiscally-questionable policies, even when they sound good."

"[I] would put my record up for scrutiny alongside Senator Marx, and Joe Courtney for that matter, any day of the week," he added.