Colombian President Petro having affair with trans woman? Old video sparks huge outrage amid Trump's tariff threats
Amidst his confrontation with Donald Trump, an old video of Colombian President Gustavo Petro has resurfaced online, accusing him of cheating on his spouse.
Amidst his confrontation with Donald Trump, an old video of Colombian President Gustavo Petro has resurfaced online, accusing him of cheating on his spouse with a transgender woman.
The video reappears on social media after the 47th US President threatened to take retaliatory action against the South American nation for refusing to allow two US military planes carrying migrants to be deported. However, Petro had refuted the purported rumors.
Trump promised to apply a 25% tariff on Colombian goods in response to Petro's reluctance to welcome immigrants. In response, Colombia imposed a 25% tariff on US goods, starting the first trade war under his leadership. In Latin America, Colombia ranks as the third-largest trading partner of the United States.
The viral clip purported to show Petro walking hand in hand with transgender newscaster Linda Yepes during their Panama trip. Notably, Petro, who has been married to philanthropist Veronica Alcocer, has not rejected that he is the man in the clip.
The video drew sharp reactions from people in Colombia, a typically conservative country where 70% of people identify themselves as Catholic.
According to Daily Mail, a different image showed Petro photographing Yepes while she posed for him in a blue strapless dress.
Gustavo Petro's viral video draws netizens' reaction
In addition to accusing Petro of infidelity, the infuriated Colombian netizens charged him with wasting public money. “Your sexual orientation is irrelevant, but the use of public resources to finance your adventures would be of interest to us all,” one X user wrote.
Reacting to video, which has garnered over 3.8 million views, another asked, “Colombia's president embroiled in scandal. What's the political fallout from this alleged affair?”
“Why do MAGA folks care so much about who consenting adults are sleeping with? If everyone is of age and consenting, why do you care? So bizarre,” a Trump critic wondered.
“Obama, Macron, and Petro in the trans club… Am I missing anyone else?” one more commented.
Also Read: Trump supporters lambast SNL over sinister assassination attempt joke; ‘Shame on you Colin’
Here's what Gustavo Petro has to say on alleged scandal
In a response to the last year outcry, Petro wrote on X that he was not gay and blamed the growth of transphobia on the “right-wing, deeply exclusionary, ignorant and discriminatory society.”
“I am heterosexual, but you will never hear or read a transphobic word from me. Because not only would he cease to be a man, but a human being,” he asserted.
“I have always considered that privacy is the ‘last ratio’ of freedom, the last trench of being free, and I will maintain this principle until I write about myself or die,” Petro added.
Yepes, the first transgender TV host in Colombia, claimed that she has been threatened with death since the footage surfaced. Meanwhile, Petro's wife remained silent regarding the pictures or videos that went viral on social media last year.
