GOP hopeful 'ShamWow guy' cries discrimination: 'Like putting you in the back of the bus'
Republican Congressional candidate Vince Shlomi, best known for his television commercials promoting products like “ShamWow” and “Slap Chop,” took to Newsmax Friday to complain that an anti-woke video he published on YouTube was being suppressed, calling the alleged suppression “illegal” discrimination and comparing it to Black Americans being forced to sit at “the back of the bus.”
“The big tech company – the biggest one in the world – suppresses the video, hides the video; I'm getting millions of views on another platform, and then I only get like 100 views a day?” Shlomi said.
“I'm like you know what, I'm going go run for Congress. This is crazy because that's kind of like discrimination! Like putting you in the back of the bus, or you know, 'hey, you're Jewish, go into the bathroom, here's a ham sandwich.' It's like, illegal!”
Shlomi filed to run for Texas’ 31st Congressional District in November, looking to unseat Rep. John Carter (R-TX), who was endorsed by President Donald Trump on Thursday. In his appearance on Newsmax Friday, Shlomi railed against Carter, alleging he didn’t do anything to stop illegal immigration, and boasted that if he were in Congress, he would have been “by the border every day” giving undocumented migrants ShamWow towels and Slap Chops and telling them to “go home.”
Shlomi was asked what inspired him to run for Congress, to which he said it was a combination of two things – the assassination of right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk, and the alleged suppression of his anti-woke video, titled “Woke Busters,” a parody of ghost busters in which Shlomi sprays slime on a transgender person.
The video, Shlomi said, was scheduled to be published on Sept. 10, but its publication was delayed after Shlomi heard of Kirk’s killing, which occurred that same day. After hearing the news of Kirk’s death, Shlomi said he decided to instead publish the video on Oct. 14, Kirk’s birthday, though the upload date on the “Woke Busters” YouTube video actually reads Oct. 16.
As of Dec. 5, Schlomi’s “Woke Busters” video had amassed fewer than 35,000 views. In a comment under the video, Shlomi alleged that Google – which owns YouTube – suppressed the video “because THEY KNOW it helps deprogram people.”
If elected, Schlomi has pledged to introduce what he’s dubbed “The Thoughtism Bill,” legislation that he says would establish the concept of “thoughtism” – a term he coined that’s “similar to racism,” except based on prejudice or hatred of another person based on their political views – and elevate crimes to hate crimes should they be motivated by “thoughtism.”
When asked if he had any other policy agendas other than combating “wokeism,” Shlomi provided one example.
“Maybe get some free [water] filter for our constituents,” he said.
GOP Congressional candidate Vince Shlomi (@RealShamwowGuy) alleges his "Woke Busters" video was supressed by Google and says it's "discrimination like putting you in the back of the bus"
Said would give ShamWows and Slap Chops to migrants at the border and tell them to "go home" pic.twitter.com/DEwXkxQBrZ
— Alexander Willis (@ReporterWillis) December 5, 2025