A widening social media controversy has upended the governor’s race in one of the nation’s most conservative states, sharpening divisions inside the Republican Party after revelations first reported by the Daily Mail.
Reid Rasner, the Republican candidate for Wyoming’s lone U.S. House seat, is urging the state GOP to withdraw its endorsement of Brent Bien after Bien’s campaign account was found to have followed several sexually suggestive profiles featuring young women online.
Rasner sharply criticized the Wyoming Republican Party and said officials should move at once to revoke their backing of the gubernatorial contender.
‘We’ve been seeing this stuff shared all over Wyoming for years; I’m just surprised it took this long for people to notice,’ Rasner told the Daily Mail. ‘This is why we need actual candidate vetting.’
He said the Wyoming GOP should ‘rescind’ its endorsement of Bien ‘immediately.’
The Daily Mail reported last week that Bien’s official campaign social media account had followed five sexually suggestive profiles, among them accounts that appeared to feature underage girls.
On Facebook, Bien’s campaign followed a page called ‘Alexiii,’ which showed a provocatively dressed woman and included links to more explicit material.
On Instagram, the campaign followed @gloricious_me, an account featuring a 16-year-old posting provocative dance videos, as well as @kopachelsea, which showed very young girls dancing. Screenshots of the campaign account’s previous follows are included below.
Brent Bien and his wife Susan, the couple have three daughters and have been married for 30 years
Bien’s campaign followed a page named ‘Alexiii’ on Facebook with a link to exclusive content. The page uses the photos of OnlyFans creator Celine Flordegin (pictured)
The Bien campaign followed @gloricious_me featuring photos and videos of a 16-year-old dressing and dancing provocatively. The account @kopachelsea shows young girls dancing
The campaign’s TikTok account also followed @hmz6bl, also known as ‘Scarlet Seduction,’ an account which features videos of women in short dresses.
Bien’s official campaign X account followed @LittleBlondage, a Wyoming-based user who posts political content but also shares sexually suggestive images.
‘Little Blondage’ has since been unfollowed, but Bien Campaign Outreach Manager Cheryl Aguiar saw nothing wrong with the campaign following her account, telling the Cody Enterprise news outlet: ‘She is a woman from Gillette who has a very nice body and I say that as a 69-year-old woman.’
Despite screen grabs showing the contrary, when the Daily Mail contacted Bien’s campaign for comment last week, a spokesperson insisted: ‘Brent is not following the accounts you referenced.’
Shortly after the inquiry, the campaign account appeared to unfollow every account highlighted by the Daily Mail.
Bien has since offered a different explanation for how the accounts may have appeared on his campaign’s following list, while continuing to deny they were ever legitimately followed.
Bien’s campaign followed Tiktok user @hmz6bl, also known as ‘Scarlet Seduction.’ The page features women in short dresses
Bien Campaign Outreach Manager Cheryl Aguiar told one outlet there was nothing wrong with the campaign following the account: ‘She is a woman from Gillette who has a very nice body and I say that as a 69-year-old woman.’
Alexiii’s account features provocative reels
Brent Bien and his wife Susan have been married for over 30 years and have three daughters
In a statement posted to Facebook, Bien claimed the controversy was politically motivated because of his opposition to data centers.
‘I believe it’s because I am the only candidate against data centers running for Governor of Wyoming,’ he wrote.
Bien also said he had contacted local law enforcement to report his account had been hacked. The Daily Mail verified the report was made. However, police declined to release it, citing an ongoing active investigation.
Bien added that he had also filed a complaint with Meta, the parent company of Facebook.
Rasner shared a screenshot of the original Daily Mail article on Facebook, accusing the Bien campaign of aligning with lawmakers who opposed raising Wyoming’s legal marriage age to 18. Twenty-one Republican legislators voted against the measure.
Rasner’s post drew a swift response from Aguiar, who appeared to threaten legal action.
‘Wow Reid you should know better than defamation… Screen shot is logged. You will be hearing from us shortly,’ Aguiar wrote under the post.
Rasner also shared screenshots he had taken of Bien’s accounts following one of the women.
Tiktok user @hmz6bl, aka ‘Scarlet Seduction,’ was among the pages the Bien campaign followed until the account appeared to unfollow every account highlighted by the Daily Mail
The Bien campaign followed @LittleBlondage on X, screengrabs taken by the Daily Mail show
On Facebook, the Bien campaign followed the page ‘Alexiii’ featuring a provocatively dressed woman who linked to more explicit content
Aguiar wrongly told the Cody Enterprise the Daily Mail had never reached out to Bien’s daughters, despite the fact that they were contacted by this reporter on July 23.
The Daily Mail also shared unblurred screenshots of the accounts previously followed by Bien’s campaign to Park County GOP Chairman Vince Vanata, who dismissed the evidence.
Vanata had told the Cody Enterprise that the county would continue to support Bien unless evidence was presented. Once presented with such proof, he doubled down.
‘The pictures you sent as ‘proof’ say Follow, not Following, and mean nothing to me,’ Vanata said. ‘I’ve known Brent Bien for 23 years, most likely longer than you’ve been on planet Earth, and know him to be a man of the highest integrity.’
However, the Daily Mail’s screenshots clearly show his campaign was previously ‘following’ the social media accounts.
Park County Republican Committeewoman Nicole Forsberg also said she would continue to endorse Bien despite the screenshots.
‘I absolutely will because that article was complete bulls**t,’ Forsberg said. ‘Nice try.’
Neither Bien’s campaign nor the Wyoming Republican Party responded to the Daily Mail’s requests for additional comment.
Bien is facing challenges from six Republican rivals in next month’s high-stakes primary.
Among the leading contenders is Wyoming Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder, who is widely regarded as one of the race’s frontrunners thanks to the backing of President Donald Trump.
Wyoming Republicans will decide the primary victor on August 18.
