Tag: Pete Buttigieg

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Bitter Queen Pens Ill-Written Hatchet Job On Mayor Pete Buttigieg

A hack writer (using the term loosely here) somehow got a tacky, ill-written hatchet job on Democratic presidential candidate Mayor Pete Buttigieg on the New Republic website.
Mayor Pete Buttigieg

A hack writer (using the term loosely here) somehow got a tacky, ill-written hatchet job on Democratic presidential candidate Mayor Pete Buttigieg on the New Republic website.

I won’t link to it because it was yanked down once the writer, Dale Peck, was presumably tackled and handcuffed to a radiator somewhere.

The author, who’s clearly a bitter old queen, took Mayor Pete to task for coming out in his mid-30s and claims that disqualifies him from the presidency.

When contacted about the article, editor Chris Lehmann (who must have been at happy hour when the author hacked into NR’s website) responded saying, “The New Republic recognizes that this post crossed a line, and while it was largely intended as satire, it was inappropriate and invasive.”

Here’s just a sample. Click to enlarge.

Trust and believe, this was not satire. Satire requires wit.

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Podcast: Buttigieg’s Big Bucks; Former Mr. Leather Europe Aids African Refugee; Church Steps Up For LGBTQ Teen Prom

In this week’s podcast:

• Mayor Pete Buttigieg announces largest campaign donations of any Democratic candidate for the second quarter

• A former Mr. Leather Europe comes to the aid of an African lesbian refugee as she starts a new life in Manchester. To help Shadia, click here.

• A local church stepped up after haters shut down an LGBTQ teen prom

• A new study shows there’s still a LOT of stigma to overcome regarding HIV

All that and more in this episode of The Randy Report

You can also listen to The Randy Report podcast (for free!):

• On Soundcloud here

• On iTunes here

• On Spotify here

• On iHeartRadio here

• On Stitcher here

For portability, its useful to know all of those outlets have apps you can install on your phone – for free!

Thanks for listening, folks!

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Pete Buttigieg Campaign Expands After Huge 2nd Quarter Donations

Mayor Pete Buttigieg on CNN

Earlier this week, the presidential campaign for Mayor Pete Buttigieg announced an eye-popping $24 million in campaign donations.

According to Politico, those funds are now being utilized to expand the size and scope of the Pete For America campaign.

For months, the South Bend, Ind., mayor has run one of the more frugal 2020 campaigns, eschewing on-the-ground organizers in early caucus and primary states and instead focusing on fundraising, media appearances and the candidate’s travel. But Buttigieg is now rapidly expanding his campaign’s footprint to try and build on his gains in the first half of the year.

In Iowa, Buttigieg’s campaign added 30 organizers at the end of June, filling out what had previously been a four-person skeleton crew. A dozen staffers are now on board in New Hampshire. And by the end of the summer, there will be many more: The campaign plans to swell its staff to 300 people by Labor Day, according to multiple people briefed on its plans.

“As we go into the summer toward the fall, we really need to make sure we’ve got the right kind of ground game. And part of that is how we use my time, and part of that is in between [events] making sure we’ve got folks day in and day out on the ground,” Buttigieg said during a recent campaign stop in Sioux City, Iowa. “So you’ll see the numbers of organizers and volunteers that we have really growing.”

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Mayor Pete Claps Back At Racist Troll At Campaign Event

Mayor Pete Buttigieg (L) shuts down racist troll at campaign event

Speaking to voters in Iowa during an Independence Day event, South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg clapped back at a man for making a racially-charged comment about black Americans.

Due to the recent police shooting of an African American man in his hometown, Mayor Pete has encountered questions and scrutiny on matters related to race on the campaign trail.

“Mayor Pete, there has been some controversy in South Bend between the police and the black community, and I have a solution for you, and I’d like you to make a comment on my proposal,” said a man who later identified himself as Dave Begley. “Just tell the black people of South Bend to stop committing crime and doing drugs.”

After a pause in the crowd, Begley was roundly booed as Buttigieg shook his head before responding, “Sir, I think racism is not going to help us get out of this drama.”

“No, no, just stop committing crimes,” insisted Begley. “It has nothing to do with race.”

p.s. when the subject of your suggestion is “black people,” the issue has intrinsically turned to race.

“The fact that a black person is four times as likely as a white person to be incarcerated as a white person for the exact same crime is evidence of systemic racism,” Buttigieg told Begley, as the crowd applauded. “It is evidence of systemic racism.”

“And, with all due respect sir, racism makes it harder for good police officers to do their job, too,” added the Democratic presidential contender. “It is a smear on law enforcement.”

As chants of “USA, USA” began, Mayor Pete stared the man down before continuing, “Sir, when black people and white people are treated the same by the criminal justice system, it will be easier for white people and black people to live in this country.”

“And it will be easier for law enforcement to do their job,” he added. “But racism has no place in American politics, or in American law enforcement.”

Politico reports that Begley spent the rest of the event looking at his phone.

Begley later told reporters he is not a member of the Carroll County Democratic Party, but he attended the event as a writer for a conservative blog, Power Line. According to the website, he is a practicing attorney in Omaha, Nebraska. He has posted several ‘reports’ following Democratic presidential candidates out on the campaign trail.

Saying he planned to file a “full report on this,” Begley insisted that he didn’t believe his comment was racist and said he “resented” Buttigieg’s response.

Begley told reporters after the question-and-answer session said he resented Buttigieg’s response. Begley said he didn’t think his comment was racist.

“I just urged him, in order to resolve the racial controversy in South Bend, to urge the blacks in South Bend to obey the law so they’re not going to have confrontations with the police,” said Begley. “And he dismissed me as a racist, which I resented, and he knows he’s wrong.”

Watch the confrontation below.

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Oscar-Winning Producer Working On Pete Buttigieg Documentary

A film production company is currently shooting a documentary that will chronicle the presidential campaign of openly gay Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana.
Mayor Pete Buttigieg

A film production company is currently shooting a documentary that will chronicle the presidential campaign of openly gay Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana.

The production company, Story Syndicate, was founded by veteran filmmakers Dan Cogan (Oscar winner for Icarus) and Liz Garbus (Oscar-nominated for What Happened, Miss Simone?).

According to Axios, the independently funded film will document Mayor Pete’s “rise to national attention.”

Film crews have been seen filming at Buttigieg campaign events as well as at last week’s first Democratic presidential debates in Miami.

Buttigieg isn’t the first millennial politician to get the indie film treatment, though.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was the focus of the campaign trail doc Knock Down the House, and former Rep. Beto O’Rourke was the subject of HBO’s Running with Beto.

Documentaries have been useful tools for younger politicians to be a part of creating their own narrative. The Ocasio-Cortez and O’Rourke projects helped establish the candidates with younger voters as the films landed at platforms that appeal to those demographics.

The Buttigieg project hasn’t been picked up by a distributor or streaming service as of yet, according to Axios, as the film’s future is “contingent on the outcome of Buttigieg’s campaign.”

That said, it’s easy to imagine the narrative taking several directions.

As the first openly gay presidential candidate to be a serious contender, that story alone could warrant documenting.

If he were to clinch the nomination, he’d be the youngest Democratic presidential nominee in history.

Or, there’s been much talk of him being considered as a running mate for other Democratic candidates. Lots of chatter about a Kamala Harris/Pete Buttigieg ticket going on…
All of these could make for a compelling documentary.

But, there’s a long road ahead in this election cycle, so we’ll just have to wait and see.

(source: Axios)

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Mayor Pete To Lil Nas X: “Welcome To The Family”

Mayor Pete Buttigieg (L), Lil Nas X (R)

Democratic White House contender Pete Buttigieg gave Lil Nas X props for “standing in his truth” after the country-rap artist came out on the last day of Pride month.

“@LilNasX has gone from viral sensation to groundbreaking musician. As a fan, I’m thrilled and inspired to see him standing in his truth as a member of the LGBTQ community. Welcome to the family,” tweeted Mayor Pete.

It’s been a great week for the 20-year-old as his hit, “Old Town Road,” became only the 12th song in the history of Billboard’s Hot 100 to stay at number one for 13 weeks or longer.

And more celebs praised the artist on social media as well:

There were some haters as well, it seems, but Lil Nas X had no problem handling the trolls on social media.

A post shared by Lil Nas X (@lilnasx) on Jul 2, 2019 at 6:18am PDT

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Poll: Harris & Warren Surge After 1st Democratic Debates

The results of a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS shows Democratic presidential contenders Sens. Kamala Harris (D-CA) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) have each surged nearly ten points since the first debates last week.

Harris saw the biggest increase from 8 percent support to 17 percent, and Warren jumped 8 points from 7 percent to 15 percent.

Former Vice President Joe Biden dropped a precipitous ten points from 32 percent support to 22 percent.

And Mayor Pete Buttigieg, despite getting strong response for his debate performance, dropped one percent.

Asked ‘who did the best job in the debates,” the hands-down favorite was Harris with 41 percent saying she won.

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Buttigieg Campaign Announces Huge $24 Million In 2nd Quarter Donations

The New York Times reports Mayor Pete Buttigieg received $24.8 million in campaign donations over the past three months.

The New York Times reports Mayor Pete Buttigieg received $24.8 million in campaign donations over the past three months.

According to the Times, that figure is triple Mayor Pete’s 1st quarter reporting, and will be one of the largest disclosed by the current Democratic presidential contenders.

Mr. Buttigieg’s haul, from more than 294,000 donors, is the clearest indicator yet of how a candidate who only months ago was little known among voters has become a formidable contender in the race for the Democratic nomination.

His strong fund-raising gives him the financial resources to build a robust campaign operation and compete with rivals who entered the race as far better-known figures, such as former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., who is also expected to report a big fund-raising total for the quarter.

Mr. Buttigieg had more than 230,000 new donors in the quarter, bringing his total number of donors during his presidential bid to more than 400,000, his campaign said. The average contribution over the course of his campaign has been $47.42, according to his team.

Campaign press secretary Chris Meagher told CNN that Mayor Pete heads into the 3rd quarter of 2019 with $22.6 million in cash.

All of the candidates are required to report their fund-raising numbers to the Federal Election Commission by July 15.

In related news, LGBTQ Victory Fund – a political action committee that works to elect LGBTQ politicians to office – endorsed Mayor Pete Buttigieg this weekend. The nod is the first presidential endorsement in the organization’s history.

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Poll: Large Majority Of LGBTQ Americans Say Sex Work Should Be Legal

Whitman Insight Strategies and BuzzFeed News surveyed LGBTQ Americans to get their thoughts on a range of issues.

Whitman Insight Strategies and BuzzFeed News surveyed LGBTQ Americans to get their thoughts on a range of issues.

Just some of the results:

• 87% believe Mayor Pete Buttigieg will face anti-gay bias in his run for the White House.

• 62% say they would vote for Buttigieg in a hypothetical head-to-head matchup with Donald Trump, while former Vice President Joe Biden would garner 68% support in a race with Trump; Sen. Bernie Sanders got the highest support with 72% saying they would give him their vote if he faced Trump in the general election.

• 83% say sex work between consenting adults should be legal.

• 55% agreed that the Democratic nominee must be a woman, person of color, or identify as LGBTQ versus 45% who disagreed.

• 60% feel it’s not acceptable to out a closeted politician who supports anti-LGBTQ policies, 40% agree with me that it’s ok.

Click over to Buzzfeed for more details from the poll.

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Recapping Democratic Debate Night 2

Sen.Kamala Harris (L), Mayor Pete Buttigieg (R)

By most political experts’ accounts, the second night of Democratic debates was dominated by a stellar performance by California Sen. Kamala Harris.

Consensus also agrees Mayor Pete Buttigieg scored well as the first openly gay presidential candidate to take to the debate stage.

Former Vice President Joe Biden, the current front-runner in polling, found himself playing defense a surprising amount of time given that this is the first Democratic debate.

Check out these highlights for both via Twitter:

FiveThirtyEight teamed with Morning Consult to determine who ‘won’ the debates:

Among all 20 candidates, Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren and Julián Castro earned the highest scores for their debate performances relative to their favorability rating before they took the stage, according to the voters in our poll.

Bernie Sanders and Cory Booker also rated well, but their scores were more in line with their pre-debate favorability.

Meanwhile, voters didn’t exactly think Beto O’Rourke did badly on Night 1, but his grades were underwhelming given his popularity.

A CNN focus group agreed with the pundits: