Denver Riggleman, the Republican nominee for the fifth congressional district of Virginia, slammed his Democratic opponent Leslie Cockburn over her “Bigfoot erotica” accusation in an exclusive interview with Breitbart News, saying, “She’s from Hollywood, she’s used to making things up.”

Last week, Cockburn accused Riggleman of associating with white supremacists and authoring “Bigfoot-themed erotica.”

Cockburn said, “My opponent Denver Riggleman, running mate of Corey Stewart, was caught on camera campaigning with a white supremacist. Now he has been exposed as a devotee of Bigfoot erotica. This is not what we need on Capitol Hill.”

My opponent Denver Riggleman, running mate of Corey Stewart, was caught on camera campaigning with a white supremacist. Now he has been exposed as a devotee of Bigfoot erotica. This is not what we need on Capitol Hill. pic.twitter.com/0eBvxFd6sG — Leslie Cockburn (@LeslieCockburn) July 29, 2018

Riggleman, a Virginia distillery owner and a former Air Force intelligence officer, rebuked both claims in an interview with Breitbart News. In a previous interview with Breitbart News, he pledged to join the conservative House Freedom Caucus should he win his election.

“We did not think there was anyone stupid enough not to see that was a joke,” Riggleman told Breitbart News. “You have to be on the other edge of the Rubicon to not think that was a joke and what was, what we thought, there was no way this would gain traction, there was no way that we could believe that this was true based on my Instagram post.”

Riggleman continued, ‘The Democrats automatically knee-jerk to white supremacy, I’ve only been in the race eight weeks, so they don’t know what to do with me, so they conflate Bigfoot erotica with white supremacy, which is disgraceful.”

“It’s like, by the way, he might be a white supremacist because he’s a Republican. Let’s just throw that out with the bigfoot erotica story,” Riggleman said.

“She’s from Hollywood; she’s used to making things up,” Riggleman added.

The Virginia Republican then said that he will fight against Cockburn’s lies with the truth.

Riggleman said, “For someone to try to character assassinate my family and me, you’ve thrown down the gauntlet.”

The former intelligence officer then chastised Democrats who have called to abolish the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency as well as pushing for “Medicare for All” single-payer health care. Although Cockburn has not explicitly called to abolish ICE, she has taken pictures with supporters who have called to abolish ICE and implied that ICE agents have tortured illegal immigrant children.

“Since I served my country, and I know that ICE are professionals, we have to enforce the law; anybody who says abolish ICE is so ludicrous is based on a faulty worldview. Let’s work on legal immigration in Congress, Riggleman charged. “Let’s not go to abolish ICE and set up open borders. When someone talks about Medicare for All, that’s just someone that’s never been in business, that never actually did anything in the business world.”

A Mercatus Center study found that a Medicare for All health care system would cost $32 trillion over the next ten years, and doubling individual and corporate taxes would not be enough to pay for the socialized medicine scheme.

Riggleman then suggested that Cockburn may have decided to attack him to distract Virginia voters from her controversial opinions.

In the early 1990s, Cockburn co-authored Dangerous Liaison, which alleges that Jewish power brokers lobby American and global institutions for the benefit of Israel.

Jay Ipsen, a co-founder of the Virginia Holocaust Museum, condemned Cockburn in a statement in May.

“I don’t know to which hate group she was trying to cater with her book, but her [Cockburn’s] claims are wildly inaccurate,” Ipsen, a Holocaust survivor, charged.

Speaking of the book, Riggleman said, “It’s Very anti-Israel, which is why you see a lot of pro-Israel groups can’t stand that she’s running for office. I think given her own anti-Israel views – she’s trying to throw out smokescreens to distract everyone from her own politics.”