L-R Pete and Chasten Buttigieg (screen capture)
(GIF via Giphy)
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It’s always cocktail hour in a crisis! Recipe on barefootcontessa.com #staysafe
News Round-Up: April 2, 2020
News Round-Up: March 23, 2020
Former Mayor Pete Buttigieg (screen capture)
Could Pete Buttigieg Be Heading To MSNBC?
Pete Buttigieg hosts ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ (screen capture)
“Steve and Joy both want this job and neither know that behind their backs the network wants Mayor Pete. The new trend is hiring former politicians and the people around them. No-one is a better example of this than Nicole Wallace who worked on the John McCain and Sarah Palin campaign. Her show on MSNBC is now a monster hit and the executives are hoping to recreate that with Mayor Pete,” sources tell STRAIGHT SHUTER. “Let’s be honest, Pete needs a job. The pay is good, and the hours are great, plus after his rise to a national level he isn’t going to want to give up the spotlight.”
I thought Mayor Pete did a terrific job as guest-host this past Thursday for Jimmy Kimmel Live. Check out my review here. (h/t Instinct Magazine)
Mayor Pete’s New Gig – Guest Hosting For ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’
Pete Buttigieg hosts ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ (screen capture)
Keeping it honest, Buttigieg did confirm: “Full disclosure, none of those people are here.” He then added, “But when you don’t have a real audience, you have to fake one, just like Trump’s inauguration.” #Boom “As you know I dropped out of the presidential race last week, which was unfortunate, but what can I say: Some candidates know when it’s time to get out of the race, and some candidates are Tulsi Gabbard,” he continued. #Suh-Nap “I really thought we had a shot, but it turns out I was about 40 years too young, and 38 years too gay,” Buttigieg said with a smile. “Although we didn’t win, we did achieve some pretty big milestones,” he proclaimed. “I’m the first gay person ever to win a presidential primary and the first gay man in 30 years to wear pleated pants. We all have our journey.” Noting how quickly things can change on a day-to-day basis, Buttigieg showed his audience “living proof that America will always be America” as footage of former half-term governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, rolled revealing her to be the rainbow bear on The Masked Singer Wednesday night. After a pause, Buttigieg remarked, “That’s gonna be me in three months, isn’t it?”
Later in the show, Mayor Pete interviewed Tony Hale (Veep) and the one and only Sir Patrick Stewart who is promoting his return to the role of Captain Jean-Luc Picard in the new series, Star Trek: Picard.
Buttigieg, a life-long Star Trek fan, even went head-to-head with Stewart in a trivia game titled, “Who’s the Captain Now?” hosted by the one and only LeVar Burton.
Chasten took to Instagram to share behind-the-scenes moments with Buttigieg and his guests.
Podcast: Aaron Schock, HIV In The Military, Sherry Pie, Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg,
In this week’s podcast: • The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals issues important decision for those with HIV • Disgraced former Rep. Aaron Schock comes out as gay • Former Vice President Joe Biden’s plans to advance LGBTQ equality Link to The Biden Plan To Advance LGBTQ Equality in America Link to Bernie Sanders LGBTQ Plan • Pro golfer loses sponsors after sharing a homophobic meme on social media • ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ cancels Sherry Pie after admitting to cat-fishing young actors nude photos and videos • RuPaul’s scripted Netflix series ‘AJ and the Queen’ canceled after one season • Mayor Pete Buttigieg ended his quest for the Democratic presidential nomination All that and more in this episode of The Randy Report
Pro Golfer Dropped By Sponsors After Sharing Homophobic Meme
Scott Piercy (screen capture)
The internet quickly clapped back with many suggesting the post violated the PGA Tour’s conduct unbecoming a professional” mandate. By Tuesday, Piercy issued a non-apology via social media. “Whenever i [sic] post my intent is NEVER to offend,” he said. “I want to apologize if any of my recents [sic] story posts have been offensive. I will do better!” 
The PGA Tour acknowledged the social media activity telling Golf Digest, “We were made aware of Scott’s post and are disappointed in the lack of judgment used.” But three of Piercy’s sponsors went further than that. Titleist, FootJoy, and J. Lindeberg quickly ended their sponsorships with Piercy. “As a global lifestyle brand, we strive to support and show our love and compassion for all demographics around the world,” read a statement by J.Lindeberg to GOLF.com. “When we choose our ambassadors, we choose individuals we know will represent us well on and off the golf course. The claims from Scott Piercy were unacceptable and far from our views and beliefs. We have since terminated our contract with Mr. Piercy.” Although no official statements were released by Titleist or FootJoy, the companies did confirm to GOLF.com that they canceled all business relationships with Piercy following the controversy.
News Round-Up: March 5, 2020
The West End cast of City of Angels
Report: Pete Buttigieg To Endorse Joe Biden For President
L-R Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg
Pete Buttigieg Ends His Historic Bid For Democratic Nominee For President
Pete Buttigieg (image via Instagram)Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Ind., who rose from virtual anonymity to become the first openly gay candidate to make a high-profile run for the Democratic presidential nomination, has announced he is ending his bid for the White House.
From the Washington Post:
The development marks an abrupt end to what was briefly an ascendant candidacy, as Buttigieg won the Iowa caucuses and came in second in New Hampshire. But despite attracting enormous attention, significant support and sometimes enthusiastic crowds, there was no clear path forward toward the nomination.
Buttigieg’s decision comes shortly before Super Tuesday, the biggest primary day of the year, at a time when the Democratic race shows signs of becoming a race between Sen. Bernie Sanders and former vice president Joe Biden, with Biden occupying a centrist position that Buttigieg had hoped to make his own.
If there was one vulnerability that felled him, it was his inability to win trust or support from black voters, a key pillar of the Democratic coalition.
After a fourth-place finish in South Carolina Saturday — and results that showed he achieved abysmal levels of support with black voters–Buttigieg consulted with his team Saturday night before flying to Georgia to meet with former President Jimmy Carter Sunday. His campaign scheduled a Sunday night call for donors and did not provide a subject.
By the time all the votes were counted in South Carolina, Buttigieg had only garnered 3 percent of the Black vote in the Palmetto State, according to the Washington Post. Buttigieg is to be lauded that, in looking forward, he saw no path for winning the nomination and understood his leaving the race could benefit former Vice President Joe Biden – another candidate with which Buttigieg shared the ‘moderate’ lane. MSNBC is reporting Buttigieg decided he didn’t want to be the guy to keep a stronger nominee who the Democratic party could rally around from getting the nomination. Many of the talking heads on TV are speculating as to whether the vote-counting debacle in Iowa, which caused the results to be delayed for days, might have muddied his historic achievement and perhaps hurt his candidacy to some extent. Had he gotten the ‘clean win’ would that perhaps have propelled him to besting Sanders in New Hampshire where, instead, he came in second? We’ll never know. Watch an emotional Chasten Buttigieg introduce his husband Pete for his speech to supporters last night.
As an openly gay man, I have to say the Harvard educated/Rhodes scholar has been a more-than-worthy candidate to represent the LGBTQ community in his historic run. Initially seen as a longshot candidate, he ultimately found himself running with the big dogs, going toe-to-toe with U.S. senators with much higher name recognition and decades of experience in Washington, D.C. The “left-handed, Maltese-American, Episcopalian, gay millennial-war veteran” has presented himself well with dignity, poise, and grace. When asked by a nine-year-old supporter for advice on coming out, Pete said “when I was trying to figure out who I was, I was afraid that who I was might mean that I could never make a difference. And what wound up happening instead is that it’s a huge part of the difference I get to make.” I certainly see a bright future for Buttigieg – hopefully in Joe Biden’s administration. On the day of his announcement, I shared this photo on social media writing, “If I tried I could never fully express what THIS really means to me. Every day I celebrate possibilities…” I still feel the same way. 
Pete and Chasten Buttigieg
Sanders Staffer Fired For Homophobic, Misogynistic Twitter Attacks On Opponents
L-R Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Mayor Pete Buttigieg
In another tweet, Mora told his followers he could “never trust Buttigieg because he combined the natural devious disposition inherent in gay men with a bloodthirsty careerist drive.” The Sanders staffer also went after Buttigieg’s husband, Chasten, tweeting, “Chasten Buttigieg has the vibes of a housewife whose slow burning repression is leading to an inevitable psychotic break, mark my words in 10 years he will go missing and then resurface in Ft Lauderdale after getting busted for running a meth racket w a bunch of Guatemalan twinks.” 
Mora dragged Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) writing, “When [Sen. Elizabeth] Warren talks about how she knows she’s Native American because of her ‘high cheekbones’ where sis? Another lie. You look like shit.” He also accused her of being “an adult diaper fetishist.” He mocked Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) comparing her face to “that optical illusion where it’s an old lady but also a young woman depending on how you look at it but with her it’s just two different old ladies.” Mora also said Klobuchar “looks like her name: pained, chunky, [and] confused origin/purpose.” 
Mora didn’t keep his attacks limited to just his boss’s opponents. He trolled the cast of Netflix’s Queer Eye as “neoliberals,” and said openly gay statistician Nate Silver “starts to make a lot more sense when you realize he is probably the ugliest gay man to ever live.” Another tweet about Buttigieg seemed to allude that Mora might have been running a Twitter account with the username @FagsAgainstPete, which has since been shut down. According to Bixby, screenshots of the tweets were shared with The Daily Beast by one of Mora’s followers hoping their publication would help Sanders to understand how ugly folks on his team can be. Mora apparently joined the Sanders campaign last fall. He locked his Twitter account nearly six months ago so only folks who were already following him could see his tweets. But the avatar for the account clearly shows his face and links to his personal Instagram account. Prior to the publication of the story, Bixby reports the Sanders campaign did not respond to requests for comment on the report. The Sanders campaign has since announced Mora has been fired. A statement from Mike Casca, Sanders’ communications director, read, “We are running a multiracial, multigenerational campaign for justice where disgusting behavior and ugly personal attacks by our staff will not be tolerated.” Sanders was asked about the tone of some of his supporters on Twitter last week during the Democratic debate in Las Vegas. “I’m not going to tell you we don’t have some jerks out there,” Sanders said. “I do want to say to those folks: We do not want your support. If you think that what our campaign is about is making ugly attacks on other candidates, we don’t want you.” Since the report went up on The Daily Beast, Bixby has tweeted he’s been on the receiving end of thousands of attacks.
This is super fun. pic.twitter.com/jrIRE3erv0
— Scott Bixby (@scottbix) February 25, 2020
Just an excellent night. pic.twitter.com/SnZMphEZFi
— Scott Bixby (@scottbix) February 25, 2020