The campaign arm of congressional Republicans Thursday labeled presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke a "furry."

National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Michael McAdams made the mocking charge an email responding to news that Democratic Rep. Kathleen Rice endorsed Beto O'Rourke for president. The subject of the email was "Kathleen Rice backs law-hating 'furry" for President."

"Rice's endorsement of the furry is particularly disturbing given her background in law enforcement, which directly conflicts with many of Beto's major platforms," the email said.

Furries are a subculture where individuals dress in animal costumes. Many of these people meet during conventions. According to the Anthropomorphic Fandom Information Sheet, some of these conventions, like the Midwest FurFest, claim over 10,000 furries attended its 2017 event.

O'Rourke earned the tongue-in-cheek title as a "furry" due to a video that surfaced during his previous run for Texas Senate. The uncovered footage shows O'Rourke in a sheep costume playing a cover of "Blitzkrieg Bop" by The Ramones at a concert in 2003.

Following the break-up of his band Foss, O'Rourke played in a cover band called The Sheeps. During their shows, band members played in various costumes during sets: " most notably, tight onesies and sheep masks."



Beto O’Rourke was once in a cover band called The Sheeps, which performed punk rock classics. Here's a video of O’Rourke singing the Ramones with the band—in a sheep costume. You’re welcome, America. https://t.co/iv2bbq21vP pic.twitter.com/jXkixnJDQO — Mother Jones (@MotherJones) March 14, 2019



A number of studies have demonstrated that some of those interested in furry fandom view the subculture as a sexual fetish as well. According to a 2011 study by the Anthropomorphic Research Project, one-third of furries interviewed said that "sexual attraction to the content in the fandom is an important part of their furry participation."

"Our persona was that we were a very famous band from New Zealand and we didn’t want people to know our true identities — that’s why we wore masks,” Ailbhe Cormack, bassist for The Sheeps, told Mother Jones in January. “I think people followed along with the mystery of it, but they knew who we were.”