Trump backer running for Wisconsin governor followed sexually explicit
accounts online
[September 23, 2025]
By SCOTT BAUER
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Republican manufacturer running for governor in
Wisconsin as a conservative supporter of “family values” and President
Donald Trump followed numerous sexually explicit accounts online,
including a nonbinary pornography performer.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Monday that Bill Berrien, the
CEO of Pindel Global Precision and one of two announced 2026 Republican
candidates for governor, unfollowed several accounts in recent days
after the newspaper asked about the matter.
Berrien, in a statement to The Associated Press, downplayed any concerns
about his online activity.
“There are a lot of important issues that are affecting our state and
nation," he said in the statement, “but what is the mainstream media
focused on right now? Some stupid articles I read years ago, not the
plans I have to reindustrialize our state, turn the economy around, and
bring prosperity for all through work.”
In a post on X on Monday, Berrien derided the Journal Sentinel story as
“garbage political hits.” He did not refute anything written in the
story in his comments to the AP or in his post on X.
The revelation led to calls from some Republicans for Berrien to drop
out of the race.
Berrien, 56, is a political newcomer running his first race for
Wisconsin's open governor's seat. Josh Schoemann, the Washington County
executive, is the other Republican in the race. The GOP primary is 11
months away. Numerous Democrats have also announced they are running in
an attempt to succeed Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, who is not seeking a
third term.
Berrien has been critical of transgender people in the opening weeks of
his candidacy. On his campaign website, he says “our daughters’ sports
teams and locker rooms are at risk because of radical social
experimentation.”
But the Journal Sentinel reported that Berrien has an account on the
online platform Medium.com where he followed nonbinary porn performer
Jiz Lee and several other authors of sexually explicit essays. He also
followed “publications,” which are similar to blogs, that dealt with
exploring sexuality, including having relationships with multiple
partners.
Berrien stopped following the accounts of 23 people, including the most
sexually explicit ones, after the Journal Sentinel asked about his
history on the website, the newspaper reported.
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Republican businessman Bill Berrien, shown in this photo taken in
2018, launched his bid for governor on Wednesday, July 9, 2025.
(Bill Berrien via AP, File)
“Is this the best they can do?” Berrien posted on X. “Just days
after I promised to stand with President Trump to protect our state,
stop the woke indoctrination, and keep boys out of girls sports,
they came after me with the same failed attacks they tried with
President Trump. Garbage political hits didn’t slow President Trump
down, and the Democrats and the media’s latest attempts to keep me
out of this fight won’t work either.”
Schoemann, the only other announced Republican candidate in the
governor's race, declined to comment.
The Wisconsin Democratic Party also declined to comment.
Wisconsin College Republicans urged Berrien, in a post on X, to drop
out of the race.
Bill McCoshen, a longtime Republican strategist, posted on X that he
thought the revelation would be the end of Berrien's candidacy.
Conservatives, including influential talk radio hosts, already had
criticized Berrien for his support of former United Nations
Ambassador Nikki Haley in the 2024 presidential primary and for
saying in August 2020 that he hadn’t decided whether to support
Trump.
“I’ve thought this campaign was over for some time,” McCoshen
posted. “Now there’s no doubt.”
Dan Degner, president of the social conservative group Wisconsin
Family Action, said that “family and sexuality issues matter” with
Republican voters. The group’s political action committee will make
an endorsement in the Republican primary next year, he said, and it
will only go to a candidate who “champions social conservative
causes,” Degner said.
“We would have to have some pretty in-depth conversations with him
before we would consider an endorsement,” Degner said of Berrien.
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