Tag: Mike Pence

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Mayor Pete To Pence: We Don’t Need To Feud About Religion, Just Stop Being Homophobic

Mayor Pete Buttigieg on ELLEN (via screen capture)
Mayor Pete Buttigieg on ELLEN (via screen capture)

During his appearance on ELLEN Friday, South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg addressed an accusation by Vice President Mike Pence that he has been attacking Pence’s “Christian faith” as a means to further his presidential aspirations.

“I’m not critical of his faith,” the mayor told Ellen DeGeneres. “I’m critical of bad policies.”

“I don’t have a problem with religion – I’m religious, too,” he added. “I have a problem with religion being used as a justification to harm people, and especially in the LGBTQ community. So many people, even today, feel like they don’t belong. You can get fired in so many parts of this country just for who you are. And that’s got to change.”

Back to Pence, the 37-year-old White House hopeful told Ellen he isn’t “interested in feuding with the Vice President.”

“But, if he wanted to clear this up he could come out today and say he’s changed his mind,” said Buttigieg. “That it shouldn’t be legal to discriminate against anybody in this country for who they are.”

Mayor Pete Buttigieg on ELLEN (via screen capture)
Mayor Pete Buttigieg on ELLEN (via screen capture)

Buttigieg also spoke about the influence of religion on his life and how it guides him.

“When I’m in church, the scripture that I hear is about taking care about the least among us it’s about lifting up those who are most vulnerable,” he explained. “It’s a message that is fundamentally about love. Love and humility. Humbling yourself before God and putting other people before you.”

Noting that many people were disappointed a woman wasn’t elected president in 2016, Ellen asked the mayor why those people should vote for him in the 2020 election.

“You gotta vote for the person you think best speaks to your values and is best able to lead the country, and you may decide that’s me and you may decide that’s somebody else.”

Underscoring the importance for administrations to have gender diversity and gender balance, Mayor Pete was quick to say he’d definitely be open to having a female running mate should he win the Democratic primary.

In related Mayor Pete news, the recent Saint Anselm College Survey Center poll shows he has surged to third place among Democratic voters in New Hampshire.

With former Vice President Joe Biden coming in on top with 23 percent, and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders second with 16 percent, Mayor Pete garnered 11 percent support.

The pollster wrote in his report, “The emerging dark horse in this race may be Pete Buttigieg, who has gone from a virtual unknown to vault to 11% support, trailing only Biden and Sanders and ahead of Warren.”

The poll indicated Buttigieg has seen a 33-point increase in name recognition in recent weeks, almost all of it favorable.

And the latest poll out of Iowa from Monmouth University also shows Buttigieg in third place (9% support) behind Biden (27%) and Sanders (16%).

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Out Mayor Pete Buttigieg Shades Mike Pence As ‘Cheerleader For Porn Star Presidency’

South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, in the hunt for the Democratic presidential nomination, said Sunday night that he and Vice President Mike Pence (former governor of Indiana) have different views on biblical scripture.

South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, in the hunt for the Democratic presidential nomination, said Sunday night that he and Vice President Mike Pence (former governor of Indiana) have different views on biblical scripture.

CNN’s Jake Tapper, hosting a town hall in Austin, Texas, asked Buttigieg if Pence would be a better or worse president than Donald Trump.

After several moments of bewilderment, the 37-year-old mayor said that, while he disagreed with Pence ‘ferociously’ on things, he always felt Pence “at least believes in our institutions and he’s not personally corrupt.”

However, Buttigieg wondered aloud, “But then, how could he get onboard with this presidency?”

The openly gay mayor shared that his view of the Bible is based on “protecting the stranger and the prisoner and the poor person – that idea of ‘welcome,’” while Pence’s take on scripture seems to have ”a lot more to do with sexuality and a certain view of rectitude.”

“But, even if you but into that, how could he allow himself to become the cheerleader of the porn star presidency?” asked Buttigieg, referencing the allegations that Donald Trump made hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal.

“Is it that he stopped believing in scripture, when he started believing in Donald Trump? I don’t know. I don’t know.”

The Harvard alum also talked on coming out as gay in his traditionally conservative state.

“Frankly, when I first got into politics, elected politics at the beginning of this decade in Indiana — In Mike Pence’s Indiana — I thought you could either be out or you could be in office, but you couldn’t be both,” Buttigieg said.

“I came out in the middle of a re-election campaign because it was just that time in my life when I had to do that,” he told CNN’s Jake Tapper. “Pence was governor. We weren’t sure what it would do to my political future in a socially conservative community.”

“I wound up getting re-elected with 80 percent of the vote,” he concluded.

Asked how he could be qualified for the White House having never held statewide office, Buttigieg pointed to his resume: “I actually think that experience is one of the best reasons for somebody like me to be in this — I have more years of government experience than the president.”

“I have more years of executive government experience than the Vice President, and more military experience than anyone to walk into that office since George H. W. Bush,” said the former Navy intelligence officer and veteran of the war in Afghanistan. “Experience is what qualifies me to have a seat at this table.”

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Twitter Trolls Joe Biden For Calling Pence “Decent”

Former Vice President Joe Biden came under fire for calling current Vice President Mike Pence a ‘decent guy’ while speaking at the Chuck Hagel Forum in Global Leadership at the University of Nebraska at Omaha on Thursday.
Former Vice President Joe Biden (image via Flickr/KellyKline – CC license)

Former Vice President Joe Biden came under fire for calling current Vice President Mike Pence a ‘decent guy’ while speaking at the Chuck Hagel Forum in Global Leadership at the University of Nebraska at Omaha on Thursday.

The comment was especially stunning for those familiar with Pence’s lengthy history of anti-LGBTQ policies and positions.

The comment came as Biden brought up Pence’s recent speech at the Munich Security Conference last month. During the speech, Pence mentioned greetings from President Trump to the audience which was met with stark silence.

“The fact of the matter is it was followed on by a guy who’s a decent guy, our vice president, who stood before this group of allies and leaders and said, ‘I’m here on behalf of President Trump,’ and there was dead silence. Dead silence,” Biden told the Nebraska audience on Thursday.

Reid Epstein, political reporter for the Wall Street Journal, tweeted the comment:

Sex In The City star Cynthia Nixon called Biden out on Twitter, writing, “You’ve just called America’s most anti-LGBT elected leader ‘a decent guy.’ Please consider how this falls on the ears of our community.”

Biden responded to Nixon’s tweet less than an hour later admitting the misstep: “You’re right, Cynthia. I was making a point in a foreign policy context, that under normal circumstances a Vice President wouldn’t be given a silent reaction on the world stage. But there is nothing decent about being anti-LGBTQ rights, and that includes the Vice President.”

Biden’s comment got many in the Twitterverse upset:

But Washington Blade reporter Chris Johnson points out even openly gay Mayor Pete Buttigieg has referred to Pence in positive terms:

Biden has a long history of being a staunch LGBTQ ally. He came out for marriage equality before his boss, Barack Obama did, and he was recently the speaker at the national Human Rights Campaign dinner.

From my perspective, I think the comment comes across as Biden just being affable in referring to Pence. I don’t think it was a full-on testimonial about Pence’s character.

I’m hoping small incidents like this don’t inspire folks to attack our allies.

And, if Biden should run and become the Democratic nominee for president in 2020, you can bet I’ll be voting for him.

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Mike Pence’s New Chief Of Staff Once Penned Homophobic Op-Ed Calling Gays “Repugnant” & “Perverted”

Marc Short, incoming Chief of Staff for Vice President Mike Pence

It’s common knowledge that Vice President Mike Pence has been no friend to the gay community.

A short list of attacks against LGBTQ folks while in Congress includes voting against marriage equality, opposing transgender rights, and opposing the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’

While governor of Indiana, he signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act into law making it possible for businesses to discriminate against the LGBTQ community, suggested shifting federal funds meant for AIDS research to programs that would “provide assistance to those seeking to change their sexual behavior” and more.

So it shouldn’t surprise anyone that Pence’s incoming chief of staff, Marc Short, penned an op-ed while in college that called homosexuals “perverted” and “repugnant.”

As the saying goes, ‘birds of a feather flock together.’

According to The Daily Beast, the essay appeared in The Spectator, a conservative student newspaper for Washington & Lee University that Short co-founded.

In the article, which appeared in 1989, Short wrote that AIDS activists efforts in the 1990s were a “propaganda campaign” that was meant to “scare all heterosexuals into believing they are prime targets for contraction of the disease.”

“The campaign’s purpose,” alleged Short, was to “both lobby Congress for more federal funding of AIDS research and to destigmatize the perverted lifestyles homosexuals pursue.”

He even went so far as to claim the LGBTQ community “celebrated” the news of NBA superstar Magic Johnson’s HIV diagnosis because it “refueled the propaganda campaign ignited by gay activists and carelessly perpetuated by journalists whose intent is to scare all heterosexuals into believing they are prime targets for contraction of the disease.”

While he did say that AIDS victims deserved sympathy, Short added “that does not mean that we glorify homosexuals’ repugnant practices of frequent anal intercourse.”

When contacted by The Daily Beast about the op-ed, Short issued a statement, which read, “I regret using language as an undergraduate college student that was not reflective of the respect I try to show others today. We have all learned a lot about AIDS over the past 30 years and my heart goes out to all victims of this terrible disease.”

Legendary AIDS and gay rights activist Peter Staley wasn’t swayed by the apology.

“I wrote stuff in college too,” Staley told The Daily Beast. “And I don’t look back and say, ‘Oh, sorry, it was my college years.’ You’re either on the right side of stuff or the wrong side.”

“He was taking classic Jesse Helms-style rhetoric from the late ’80s and putting an early ’90s spin on it and sounding like the fools they all were,” added Staley. “Guys like him wanted us to die. And they had an effect.”

The article surfaces as the public debate about past behavior and statements of Washington power players while in college continues to grow, like the recent scandals regarding Democratic leadership in Virginia involving dressing up in black face.

The Daily Beast reports that Pence’s office did not issue a statement regarding the essay.

(image via White House/public domain)

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Awkward: Pence Gets Silence After Offering Greetings From Donald Trump To Conference

Vice President Mike Pence

Addressing the Munich Security Conference, Vice President Mike Pence was met with steely silence when he paused for applause after sharing Donald Trump had sent his greetings.

“I bring greetings from the 45th President of the United States of America, President Donald Trump,” Pence said.

(pause)

(pause)

(still silence)

Watch below.

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Ellen Page On Trump/Pence Attacks On LGBTQs: “This Has To F**king Stop”

Out actress Ellen Page calls out Trump/Pence administration for attacks on LGBTQ people

During an interview on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert last night, out actress Ellen Page became  emotional as she spoke about the damage Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence have inflicted on the LGBTQ community.

The appearance began on an upbeat note as Colbert congratulated Page on her one year anniversary of marrying her wife.

Colbert asked how she sees the current environment in Hollywood for LGBTQ people since she publicly came out five years ago.

“I mean, look, there’s clear evidence that it has changed, that there’s some progress; that there’s some more representation,” said the former Oscar nominee. “But honestly, I think we really need to hurry up.”

After talking on environmental issues and the disproportionate way climate change affects marginalized people) Page segued into a passionate takedown of Donald Trump and Mike Pence, connecting their hateful, incessant attacks on LGBTQ people to the violent hate crime on Empire actor Jussie Smollett earlier this week.

“Sorry, I’m like really fired up tonight. But it feels impossible to not feel this way right now, with the president and the vice president, Mike Pence, who, like, wishes I couldn’t be married.

“Let’s just be clear: The vice president of America wishes I didn’t have the love with my wife. He wanted to ban that in Indiana, he believes in ‘conversion therapy,’ he has hurt LGBTQ people so badly as the [governor] of Indiana.

“Connect the dots. This is what happens. If you are in a position of power and you hate people, and you want to cause suffering to them, you go through the trouble, you spend your career trying to cause suffering, what do you think is going to happen? Kids are going to be abused and they’re gonna kill themselves, and people are going to be beaten on the street.

“I have traveled the world and I have met the most marginalized people you can meet. I am lucky to have this time and the privilege to say this.

“This needs to f**king stop.”

The silence between Page’s thoughts is raw and palpable. Kudos to Colbert for not jumping in and allowing the moment to breathe.

And as she ended her impassioned plea, the audience erupted in a roar of approval.

Watch below.

LGBTQ advocacy groups cheered:

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Podcast: Carol Channing, Chechnya, Karen Pence & Gay Club Picture Rules

In this week’s podcast:

• A lesbian couple, together for 40 years, were denied an apartment at a retirement home in Missouri because they are married

• Vice President Mike Pence is deeply offended folks are upset his wife has chosen to teach art at a school that bans LGBTQ kids and parents

• A gay Australian party got into hot water over rude instructions to photographers

• Broadway legend and LGBT ally (and my dear friend) Carol Channing passed away this week at the age of 97

All that and more in this episode of The Randy Report

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New Randy Rainbow: “There Is Nothin’ Like A Wall”

Political satirist Randy Rainbow serves up his hysterical parody "There Is Nothin' Like A Wall," riffing on the hit song from the Rodgers & Hammerstein classic, South Pacific.

Political satirist Randy Rainbow serves up his hysterical parody “There Is Nothin’ Like A Wall,” riffing on the hit song from the Rodgers & Hammerstein classic, South Pacific.

The video in set against the backdrop of Rainbow interviewing Vice President (and “RuPaul’s Drag Race season 3 finalist”) Mike Pence.

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Mike Pence: Trump Had The ‘Impression’ Former Presidents Wanted A Border Wall

Vice President Mike Pence

For several days now, fact checkers have noted Donald Trump’s claim that former presidents have told him they wish they had built a wall along the US/Mexico border as false.

Representatives from Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Jimmy Carter have all confirmed they never told Trump they regret not building a wall.

Today, Vice President Mike Pence told MSNBC’s Hallie Jackson that the president ‘had the impression’ previous administrations had wanted to build a wall.

“I know the President has said that that was his impression from previous administrations, previous Presidents,” said Pence. “I know I’ve seen clips of previous presidents talking about the importance of border security, the importance of addressing the issue of illegal immigration.”

Again, we see the Trump/Pence administration stretch the truth here as “border security” (which Democrats support, by the way) is one thing, building a wall is another.

On top of the fact that all living former presidents say they never even discussed the subject with Trump.

The man literally cannot stop lying.