• Hung Cao, a former GOP House nominee, is now running for Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine’s seat.
  • He warned in a recent interview that “witchcraft” is happening in California.
  • Cao, a Vietnamese refugee, also said that he’s African-American because he “grew up in Africa too.”

Hung Cao, a Republican running for US Senate in Virginia, warned in an interview this week that “witchcraft” has “taken over” in some parts of California.

After losing to Democratic Rep. Jennifer Wexton by less than ten percentage points in 2022, Cao is seeking to take on Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine, who’s running for a third term.

In the interview with Sean Feucht — a California-based far-right pastor who led a movement against COVID-19 health restrictions and has rallied against “wokeness” at Disney — Cao lamented that Christianity has declined in influence in the United States over time, before referencing Wiccan communities in California.

“There’s a place in Monterey, California called ‘Lover’s Point,'” Cao says. “The original name was ‘Lovers of Christ Point, but now it’s become — they took out the Christ, it’s ‘Lover’s Point,’ and it’s really — Monterey’s a very dark place now, a lot of witchcraft, and the Wiccan community has really taken over there.”

“We can’t let that happen in Virginia,” he added.

While there does appear to be some Wiccan presence in Monterey, there’s little evidence that the community has “taken over” the sunny seaside locale.

According to the Monterey County Historical Society, “Lover’s Point” was indeed once known as “Lover’s of Jesus Point,” owing to its settlement by the Methodist Episcopalian Church in the 1870s.

Earlier in the interview, Cao — a Vietnamese refugee — also remarked that he was African-American by virtue of having spent time in Niger as a child.

“Your history is like, breaking stereotype after stereotype,” remarked Feucht. “And you’re conservative, and you love God, and you love America.”

“And I’m African-American because I grew up in Africa, too,” Cao interjected.

A spokesperson for Cao’s campaign did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.

Cao is facing off against several candidates for the Republican nomination for US Senate, including Scott Parkinson, the Vice President of Government Affairs at the conservative Club for Growth and a former top staffer for Ron DeSantis, before he became Governor of Florida.

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