Equality California, the nation’s largest statewide LGBTQ civil rights organization, and its Nevada-based affiliate Silver State Equality announced their endorsement of Mayor Pete Buttigieg for President of the United States on Thursday. The decision was reached unanimously by the groups’ joint presidential endorsement committee following a lengthy process that included a detailed questionnaire, thorough evaluation of the candidates’ viability and policy positions, staff engagement and interviews with the candidates.
“From his comprehensive plan to end the HIV epidemic by 2030 to his commitment to make our schools safe and supportive for LGBTQ students to his specific funding and policy priorities to protect and empower the transgender community — especially transgender women of color, who face an epidemic of violence and persecution — Mayor Pete Buttigieg has the boldest, most comprehensive agenda to achieve full, lived equality for all LGBTQ people of any presidential candidate in the nation’s history. “While we did not endorse Mayor Pete simply because he’s gay, the historic nature of his candidacy has already had a transformational impact on the LGBTQ community. Electing the first openly LGBTQ president will send a message to millions of LGBTQ youth across the country that no dreams are too big and no leadership position is too high.
For the first time, California’s primary will be held on Super Tuesday in March, and California voters will begin casting mail-in ballots on Monday, February 3, the same day as the Iowa Caucus. The 2020 Nevada Caucus will be held on Saturday, February 22. (via press release)
Pete Buttigieg on the campaign trail (all photos – PeteForAmerica)Guest post by Joshua Grotheer At a time when it’s “us” vs. “them” or left vs. right or red vs blue, I’m tired. I’m tired of the fighting. I’m tired of the hate. I’m tired of the divisiveness of politics. I’m tired of losing friendships over who someone voted for or supports. I’m tired of hurtful conversations while sitting in the church pew or around the family table. As the gay son of a United Methodist preacher and raised with Fox News on the television, I’ve always felt that I didn’t belong. I didn’t belong in my church, in my own home or in my Southern conservative community. Thankfully I attended a performing arts high school that celebrated those of us who were different. In college, I knew that my social and political beliefs were different from my family. I also knew it was okay to be different. Now, at 32 and a self-proclaimed “recovering United Methodist” I am drawn to a candidate for president who has built his entire campaign around inclusion and belonging. You see, Pete Buttigieg knows what it’s like to be different. An out gay man who is also deeply religious isn’t something I ever thought possible, much less presidential. He sees the differences in humanity and is celebrating our differences by uniting us with shared values. If the last three years have taught me anything, it’s that I’m ready for a breath of fresh air in Washington. Pete and Chasten Buttigieg I’m ready for something different. I’m ready for an outsider who understands the marginalized. I’m ready for a president that leads with values. I’m ready for a president that acknowledges that God does not belong to a political party. I’m ready for decency to return to the White House and to the Office of the President. I’m ready for someone better. I’m ready to vote for a 38-year old Naval Intelligence officer who is a devout Episcopalian from the Midwest who makes me feel hopeful. I’m ready to vote for someone who is uniquely positioned to bridge the divides tearing this country apart. I’m ready to vote for Pete Buttigieg for President.
Pete Buttigieg (screen capture via NY Times) In advance of announcing its endorsement for the Democratic primary this coming Sunday, the editorial board of the New York Times sat down with White House hopefuls Sens. Bernie Sanders, Cory Booker, Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar, former Vice President Joe Biden, former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, former Mayor Pete Buttigieg, and business executives Tom Steyer and Andrew Yang. In this clip from the roughly 80 minute interview with Buttigieg, he’s asked why he doesn’t seem as emotive or angry as other young people. The question comes from Binyamin Appelbaum, a leading writer for the board on the subject of economics. In framing his question, Appelbaum asserts that Buttigieg has been “on the front lines of corporate price fixing,” prompting Mayor Pete to call ‘bullshit.’
Though he may not be as emotive as some of his Democratic rivals, @PeteButtigieg shows the editorial board a flash of the passion that he says propels his campaign. See more this Sunday on a special 2020 endorsement episode of @TheWeekly. Full transcript: https://t.co/ooUhuoRBV9pic.twitter.com/6qXKtgA0WF
You can read the full transcript of Buttigieg’s 80-minute interview here. But below is the excerpted transcript with the Times’ annotations in italics.
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Binyamin Appelbaum:If I can put this question in a slightly different way, you’ve been on the front lines of corporate downsizing. You’ve been on the front lines of corporate price fixing. Buttigieg: Whoa, whoa whoa, that’s, that’s, I’m sorry, that’s —— Appelbaum: You’ve been on the front of our misadventures in foreign policy. You’ve had direct experience in many of the things that make a lot of young people very angry about the way that this country is operating right now. You don’t seem to embody that anger.In 2003, Mr. Buttigieg — then a junior at Harvard — spoke at an antiwar rally in Cambridge, Mass., protesting the invasion of Iraq. More than a decade later, in 2014, he served seven months in Afghanistan as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy Reserves. Buttigieg: So the proposition that I’ve been on front lines of corporate price fixing is bullshit. Just to get that out of the way. Appelbaum:You worked for a company that was fixing bread prices. Buttigieg: No, I worked for a consulting company that had a client that may have been involved in fixing or was apparently in a scandal. I was not aware of the Canadian bread pricing scandal until last night. Mr. Buttigieg’s campaign has maintained that he only recently heard of the bread price-fixing scheme and while he was working with Loblaws focused on price cuts more broadly across the grocery store chain.
BA: Do you feel the anger that many young people feel about the state of ——
Yeah, of course, because it destroyed my city. I grew up surrounded by crumbling factories and empty houses. My city lost 30,000 of its 130,000 people, largely before I was born.
South Bend had an unemployment rate of 13 percent in 2010. Under Mayor Buttigieg, it fell to 3.2 percent, though it rose back to 4.3 percent in 2018.
So I’m under no illusions about the problems that are present in American capitalism generally and were unleashed beginning with the Reagan era specifically. And while I may not be as emotive sometimes about my sense of anger or frustration or injustice — and I would argue that some people are given more room to be emotive than others — I would not be doing any of this if I were not propelled by a level of passion.
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The editorial board’s pick to be the nominee will be revealed on the January 19 episode of “The Weekly,” The Times’s television show on FX and Hulu.
Ignacio Pérez Rey (via Instagram) Some news items you might have missed: • InstaHunk: Ignacio Pérez Rey (above), in Madrid, Spain, proves clothes are sexy, smiles are sexy, and Madrid is sexy. #grrr • Bloomberg News: Democratic Senator Tim Kaine says he has enough votes to pass a resolution that would limit President Donald Trump’s ability to carry out a military attack against Iran without congressional authorization. Kaine said Tuesday he has 51 “declared votes“ for his resolution including GOP senators Mike Lee, Rand Paul, Susan Collins and Todd Young. • The Gaily Grind: High school freshman Kayla Kenney was expelled from her Christian school after wearing a rainbow sweater while celebrating her 15th birthday with her family at a local restaurant with a rainbow cake. The school seems to have assumed celebrating with rainbows meant the teen was lesbian…? • Los Angeles Blade: Pete Buttigieg attended a primarily black gay fundraiser in Los Angeles at the home of Jordan Fudge, a managing partner of the venture capital firm Sinai Ventures. The event was co-hosted by Empire writer/director Lee Daniels, who called Buttigieg “a candidate that is worthy of serious, serious consideration.” • The Advocate: Tennessee lawmakers have approved a bill that would give faith-based adoption and foster care agencies legal cover to turn away same-sex couples and other prospective parents who offend the agencies’ religious beliefs. The governor has signaled he plans to sign the bill into law. • Netflix: The streaming giant offers this supercut of RuPaul’s most fab performances featured in the new series, AJ and the Queen. While I found parts of the series surprisingly flat and slow, Ru does bring some heat serving up lewks and body as she lip syncs for her life in these drag performances.
Pete Buttigieg & Rep. Anthony Brown Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg has picked up his first endorsement from a member of the Congressional Black Caucus as Rep. Anthony G. Brown (MD-4) announced his support today. From the Washington Post:
“I firmly believe that Pete Buttigieg is the guy to lead our nation after we defeat Donald Trump and have to pick up the pieces and repair the damage of the last four years,” Brown said in an interview. “He’s well-versed and studied and really diligent about the issues from a policy standpoint.”
As Buttigieg has vaulted to the top tier of the Democratic field, he has struggled to attract support from African American voters and leaders. Brown will serve as a national campaign co-chairman, the first endorser the campaign has named to that position.
Brown acknowledged Buttigieg has received criticism for how he has approached racial issues in South Bend, but he said Buttigieg has not shied away from the critiques.
“We all suffer criticism,” Brown said. “The question is, how well do you take that criticism and sort of transform it into an overall constructive approach to addressing the challenges that are being raised? And I think he is really good at that and is open to it.”
Brown — who represents Maryland’s 4th Congressional District, just outside Washington — has other connections with Buttigieg. Both attended Harvard University and both are military veterans.
Pete Buttigieg (via Facebook) Some news items you might have missed: • Deadline: Pete Buttigieg will appear at another Fox News town hall on January 26, a little more than a week before the Iowa caucuses, with Chris Wallace as moderator. This will be Buttigieg’s second Fox News town hall, having headlined a well-received event last May. He’s one of six Democratic candidates to appear at town halls on the network. • Instinct Magazine: A Canadian man has been busted for mailing an envelope filled with white powder – and a note with an indication that the powder was anthrax – to New York City East Village spot Nowhere Bar. • CBS News: A new CBS News poll ties Sen. Bernie Sanders, former Vice President Joe Biden and Mayor Pete Buttigieg for the lead in Iowa. Sanders, Biden and Buttigieg are tied at 23%, while Sen. Elizabeth Warren comes fourth with 16% and Sen. Amy Klobuchar falls in fifth at 7%. • Washington Post: Rep. Duncan D. Hunter will resign from Congress effective January 13, more than one month after the California Republican pleaded guilty in federal court to misusing campaign funds. The six-term congressman is scheduled to be sentenced in March. He faces a maximum of five years in prison, although he is expected to serve less than one year. • Politico: Donald Trump’s reelection campaign will spend $10 million on 60 seconds of television ad time during the Super Bowl next month as the president ramps up his push for a second term. • New York Times: Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell informed Republicans on Tuesday that he planned to move forward with President Trump’s impeachment trial without committing to additional witnesses or admitting new evidence, over the objections of Democrats who are insisting on both.
“Whoever heard of a trial without witnesses and documents? It’s unprecedented.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer says he and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell “have very different visions about what it means to conduct a fair trial.” https://t.co/vTZuyr7OFtpic.twitter.com/yYlmHPU6b9 — ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) January 7, 2020
Mayor Pete Buttigieg (image via Instagram) While speaking at King Jesus International Ministry in Miami, Donald Trump claimed that Mayor Pete Buttigieg and other Democrats are trying to replace religion with socialism. The Donald then openly questioned if Mayor Pete was as religious as he claimed. “And I see Alfred E. Neuman comes out and he’s trying to pretend he’s very religious,” Trump said, referencing the former mayor as the MAD Magazine mascot. “Now all of a sudden, he’s become extremely religious, this happened about two weeks ago,” Trump continued. Buttigieg, a former Catholic who is openly Episcopalian, clapped back with 8 simple words: “God does not belong to a political party.”
Buttigieg elaborated further on Trump’s remarks during a campaign stop in New Hampshire. “I’m not sure why the president’s taken an interest in my faith journey, but certainly I would be happy to discuss it with him,” he said. “I just don’t know where that’s coming from, you know. Certainly, it has been a complex journey for me, as it is for a lot of people, but I’m pretty sure I’ve been a believer longer than he’s been a Republican.”
Pete responds to Trumps attack on his faith…just now on MSNBC.
"Pretty sure I've been a believer longer than he's been a Republican."
Former Vice President Joe Biden leads the field of Democratic presidential hopefuls by double digits a month ahead of the Iowa caucuses, according to a Harvard CAPS/Harris poll released exclusively to The Hill.
The poll shows Biden registering 30 percent support among Democrats nationally. In a relatively distant second place is Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who notched 17 percent in the survey.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is lingering in the No. 3 spot with 12 percent support. No other candidate registered double-digit support. Former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg came in fourth place at 7 percent, while former tech executive Andrew Yang notched 3 percent support.
Still, recent polls in early primary and caucus states show a more fluid race.
An Emerson College survey of likely Iowa Democratic caucusgoers released last month showed Biden and Sanders in a statistical tie for first place, with 23 percent and 22 percent support, respectively.
And a WBUR-MassINC poll of New Hampshire Democrats from December showed Buttigieg and Biden knotted at the top with 18 percent and 17 percent, respectively. Sanders wasn’t far behind in that survey, with 15 percent support.
And here’s some eye-popping news – former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg has tied Warren for third place in the latest Hill/HarrisX poll:
The former New York City mayor is now in a dead heat for third place with top-tier candidate, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who also received 11 percent support. Biden, meanwhile, continues to lead the Democratic field with 28 percent followed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) at 16 percent.
Nathan McCallum (via Instagram) Some news items you might have missed: • InstaHunks: Where in the world is fitness guy Nathan McCallum…and how do I get there? 🙂 •Instinct Magazine: RuPaul’s nascent talk show, which had a three-week trial run this past summer, has not been picked up for syndication. • NewNowNext: The Equitable Restroom Act went into effect in Illinois on January 1, which requires single-occupancy bathrooms in public places to be marked with signs labeling them as “All-Gender.” • KIT212: Kenneth serves up his weekly round-up (below) of the what’s what in gay rags across the country. • LGBTQ Nation: A gay man’s sister kidnapped him & forced him into conversion therapy where he was beaten and flogged. His family thought being gay was “demonic,” so his sister hired a “prophet” to beat it out of him. • Variety: Kevin Spacey has settled a lawsuit with the estate of a man who had accused him of sexual assault, following the accuser’s death in September. A trial was set to take place in federal court in June 2020, but when the accuser died, the accuser’s estate filed a notice dismissing the lawsuit on Monday. Each side agreed to pay their own costs. • WRAL: The United Methodist Church appears poised to split into two separate denominations over the issue of LGBTQ inclusion. The United Methodist Church is currently the third largest Christian denomination in the United States. • Politico: Why Pete Buttigieg enrages the political left – “The unspoken truth about the furor Buttigieg arouses is that his success threatens a core belief of young progressives: that their ideology owns the future, and that the rise of millennials into Democratic politics is going to bring an inevitable demographic triumph for the party’s far left wing.” • Twitter: As many have pointed out, before the 2012 presidential election, Donald Trump repeatedly predicted (wrongly) that President Obama would start a war with Iran in order to secure re-election. We all know Trump projects his own thoughts on others as this video clip resurfaces:
Not only tweets, we got video. Remember, folks – Trump is about projection. He always accuses others of what he would/will do. pic.twitter.com/QdEu8gpY8V
Mayor Pete Buttigieg campaigns in Iowa Pete Buttigieg raised more than $24.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2019, according to the New York Times. Buttigieg’s campaign announced it had now received more than two million donations from more than 733,000 people since he entered the race, and 326,000 people had donated to the South Bend mayor’s effort in the fourth quarter. Since entering the race, the 37-year-old White House hopeful has raised more than $76 million. CBS News reports Sen. Bernie Sanders scored $34.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2019. Sanders’ best fundraising month was December, when he collected 900,000 donations totaling over $18 million. Still seeking a last-minute boost in the polls that would allow him to qualify for the January Democratic debate, entrepreneur Andrew Yang’s presidential campaign announced he had raised $16.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2019 putting him among the Democratic field’s top five fund-raisers. And over in Trump Land, the Donald’s re-election campaign pulled in $46 million in the fourth quarter of 2019. The Trump campaign begins the 2020 re-election year with cash on hand of $102.7 million. Update – Rep. Tulsi Gabbard’s campaign announced the Democrat from Hawaii raised $3.4 million in the last quarter of 2019. The New York Times reports Joe Biden reported raising $22.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2019, a significant improvement from his lackluster fund-raising performance in the previous three months.
Equality California, the nation’s largest statewide LGBTQ civil rights organization, and its Nevada-based affiliate Silver State Equality announced their endorsement of Mayor Pete Buttigieg for President of the United States on Thursday. The decision was reached unanimously by the groups’ joint presidential endorsement committee following a lengthy process that included a detailed questionnaire, thorough evaluation of the candidates’ viability and policy positions, staff engagement and interviews with the candidates. 
(via press release)
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