--- title: Maryland Candidate Hopes Same-Sex Kiss Will 'Piss Off' Trump description: Maryland gubernatorial candidate Rich Madaleno's new campaign ad includes the refrain "take that, Trump" and concludes with a same-six kiss canonical: https://time.com/5305604/maryland-rich-madaleno-same-sex-kiss/ author: Eli Meixler article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-06-08T06:35:16.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T20:30:42.280Z article:section: Politics og:title: Maryland Candidate Hopes Same-Sex Kiss Will 'Piss Off' Trump og:description: "Take that, Trump," candidate Rich Madaleno says after kissing his husband og:url: https://time.com/5305604/maryland-rich-madaleno-same-sex-kiss/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1a756f0908e2a84c/698932a1656a3f77e8bd4a78/gettyimages-865261994.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: GERMANTOWN, MD - OCTOBER 14: Rich Madaleno is one of six of the og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Maryland Candidate Hopes Same-Sex Kiss Will 'Piss Off' Trump twitter:description: "Take that, Trump," candidate Rich Madaleno says after kissing his husband twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1a756f0908e2a84c/698932a1656a3f77e8bd4a78/gettyimages-865261994.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 'Take That, Trump.' Maryland Gubernatorial Candidate Includes Same-Sex Kiss in Campaign Ad by [Eli Meixler](/author/eli/) ## Eli Meixler Jun 8, 2018 6:35 AM CUT  Rich Madaleno, a candidate for the Maryland gubernatorial Democratic nomination, at a forum at the Montgomery College in Germantown, Maryland on Oct. 14, 2017. Rich Madaleno, a candidate for the Maryland gubernatorial Democratic nomination, at a forum at the Montgomery College in Germantown, Maryland on Oct. 14, 2017.Astrid Riecken—The Washington Post/Getty Images by [Eli Meixler](/author/eli/) ## Eli Meixler Jun 8, 2018 6:35 AM CUT Maryland gubernatorial candidate Rich Madaleno released a campaign ad this week portaying the Democrat as a [progressive antidote](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2018/06/07/marylands-rich-madaleno-aims-piss-off-trump-same-sex-kiss-ad/681168002/ "undefined") to President Donald Trump, culminating with a same-six kiss and the refrain, “take that, Trump.” Madaleno, a Democratic state senator, promises “to deliver progressive results and to stand up to Donald Trump” in the 30-second ad, which began running Thursday, according to USA Today. The ad lists some of Madaleno’s accomplishments that “have already infuriated” the president before touting “the number one way I piss off Donald Trump and the Republicans.” “Take that, Trump,” Madaleno says after kissing Mark Hodge, his husband of 16 years. The ad is running in Maryland ahead of the state’s June 26 primary, and on _Fox and Friends_ in the Washington, D.C. area. “The refrain is ‘take that Trump’ — so we wanted to make sure the president had an opportunity to see this ad, and went with the [network he tunes into](http://time.com/5255631/donald-trump-gives-himself-a-fox-interview/ "undefined"),” said Madaleno campaign manager Keith Presley, according to USA Today. Madaleno is one of seven candidates running to unseat incumbent Republican governor Larry Hogan, who is not mentioned in the ad. As a state lawmaker, Madaleno backed a bill legalizing same-sex marriage in the state in 2012\. His gubernatorial campaign platform also includes a measure banning [sexual conversion therapy](http://time.com/4006675/illinois-bans-gay-conversion-therapy-on-minors/ "undefined") among other progressive policies. **Read more**: [_My Hellish Youth in Gay Conversion Therapy and How I Got Out_](http://time.com/2986440/sexual-conversion-therapy-gay/ "undefined") “June is LGBT Pride Month and I couldn’t think of a better time to release this ad,” Madaleno said in a statement. “Love truly does trump hate.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5305604/maryland-rich-madaleno-same-sex-kiss/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5305604/maryland-rich-madaleno-same-sex-kiss/"},"headline":"'Take That, Trump.' Maryland Gubernatorial Candidate Includes Same-Sex Kiss in Campaign Ad","datePublished":"2018-06-08T06:35:16.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T20:30:42.280Z","description":"\"Take that, Trump,\" candidate Rich Madaleno says after kissing his husband","url":"https://time.com/5305604/maryland-rich-madaleno-same-sex-kiss/","keywords":["Maryland","onetime","overnight"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1a756f0908e2a84c/698932a1656a3f77e8bd4a78/gettyimages-865261994.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eli Meixler","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/eli/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1a756f0908e2a84c/698932a1656a3f77e8bd4a78/gettyimages-865261994.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"GERMANTOWN, MD - OCTOBER 14: Rich Madaleno is one of six of the","caption":"GERMANTOWN, MD - OCTOBER 14: Rich Madaleno is one of six of the","creditText":"Astrid Riecken—The Washington Post/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/maryland/","name":"Maryland"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5305604/maryland-rich-madaleno-same-sex-kiss/","name":"'Take That, Trump.' Maryland Gubernatorial Candidate Includes Same-Sex Kiss in Campaign Ad"}}]}] ```