The Tweet That Lit the Fuse

On January 18, 2026, California State Senator Scott Wiener quote-tweeted a simple USDA video promoting whole milk for kids. The ad shows schoolchildren drinking milk and carries the message that kids deserve real nutrition. Wiener's one-line response: "The level of creepy in this regime is next level."

The Internet's Immediate Reaction

The internet did not let it slide.

Within hours the replies exploded with accusations that Wiener—of all people—has no business calling anything involving children "creepy." The outrage centers on two main threads that have followed him for years.

Senate Bill 145: The Long-Standing Flashpoint

First is Senate Bill 145, which Wiener sponsored in 2020. The legislation gave judges the same discretion over sex offender registration in cases of voluntary sexual contact between a 14-17-year-old and an adult within ten years of age, regardless of whether the act was heterosexual or same-sex. Before the bill, same-sex acts triggered automatic registration while opposite-sex acts did not always. The age of consent in California remained 18; the bill changed nothing about what is legal or illegal. Critics, however, still brand it as a move to shield predators or soften consequences for adult-minor sex, and the "pedo protector" label has never fully died.

Folsom Street Fair: The Personal Side That Fuels the Fury

Second—and the part that fuels the most visceral anger—is Wiener's open, repeated participation in San Francisco's Folsom Street Fair, the city's huge annual leather and kink event. He has attended multiple times and posted photos of himself there: shirtless, in leather vests, ties, or harness-style gear, smiling and captioning posts with enthusiasm for the day. Folsom is an explicitly adult, fetish-oriented gathering with public nudity, bondage displays, and heavy sexual themes. Wiener has defended his presence by saying he's a single gay man enjoying community events and that attacks on it are rooted in homophobia. To many others, especially parents and people outside progressive bubbles, a sitting state senator proudly immersing himself in that scene looks incompatible with any moral authority to comment on what is or isn't "creepy" when children are involved.

Why the Combination Exploded

The combination hit like gasoline on the tweet. People flooded the replies calling him a hypocrite, a pervert, and worse. Common refrains: How does a guy who spends his weekends at kink fairs get to label kids drinking milk as creepy? Why is his mind going there at all? The pile-on framed the incident as proof that Wiener sees normal childhood imagery through a warped lens while embracing boundary-pushing adult spaces himself.

Where Things Stand Now

Wiener has not elaborated on the tweet or responded to the fresh wave of criticism as of this writing. With his congressional campaign already underway for 2026, the moment has handed his opponents fresh ammunition. Whether the backlash sticks long-term or fades like previous rounds remains to be seen, but right now the story is simple: a senator known for controversial sex-and-minors legislation and very public kink-fair appearances called a milk ad creepy—and a huge number of people found that impossible to stomach without calling out what they see as rank hypocrisy.