Vermont's gubernatorial race features a trans woman, but Full Frontal found only a 'nerd' trying to fix the internet

Ashley Nicole Black covers the Vermont governors race

(Image credit: Screenshot/YouTube/Full Frontal)

last updated 25 October 2018

Vermont Democrat Christine Hallquist is vying to become America's first openly transgender governor. Samantha Bee's Full Frontal sent Ashley Nicole Black up to Vermont to check in on the race, and she decided to cover it as if she were making an Oscar-winning biopic of a transgender trailblazing hero. Hallquist quickly disabused her of the idea, explaining that nobody in Vermont cares about her gender — she's running on a plan to fix the state's shoddy internet. The voters Black talked to backed up that narrative. "I have to say, since I've been here, everyone seems one, very nice; two, very well informed," she told one voter. "Maybe you guys should not get internet."

"I was looking to make a movie about, like, a very cool trans woman overcoming the odds, and I guess now my movie's about a nerd bringing the internet to Vermont," Black told Hallquist. "Yeah, I like the sound of that better," she replied. And then Black went into voiceover: "And I realized that while I was looking for a villain for my movie, it turns out — Shyamalan twist — the villain was me. I was trying to make Christine fit into my story, but hers is way better."

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.