After homophobic jibes, Buttigieg says US has 'moved on'

Yahoo – AFP, February 16, 2020

US presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg (R) and his husband Chasten Buttigieg
(AFP Photo/Joseph Prezioso)

Washington (AFP) - The gay presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg insisted his sexuality would not damage his electoral prospects Sunday, saying the United States had "moved on" as a country, after homophobic jibes by allies of Donald Trump.

The 38-year-old Democrat, who married his partner Chasten Glezman two years ago, said he would not take lectures from supporters of a man who has faced accusations ranging from rape to sleeping with a porn star.

"I am in a faithful, loving, committed marriage. I'm proud of my marriage and I'm proud of my husband and I'm not going to be lectured on family values from the likes of Rush Limbaugh or anybody who supports Donald J. Trump as the moral as well as political leader of the United States," Buttigieg told Fox News.

His comments come after veteran radio host Limbaugh told listeners last week that Trump would relish going head-to-head with a candidate who kissed his husband on stage.

"Boy can you see Trump have fun with that?" said Limbaugh, who was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom -- the highest civilian honor in the country -- during Trump's State of the Union speech earlier this month.

Sebastian Gorka, another ultra-conservative pundit who used to work in the Trump White House, also weighed in by asking his listeners why was "a homosexual guy lecturing us" about abortion rights.

Fellow Democrats and some prominent Republicans have criticized the comments, while Trump himself has said he thinks there is no reason why America would not elect a gay president.

Although some voters have balked at Buttigieg's candidacy when they realized he is gay, his sexuality has so far not been a major issue on the campaign trail.

"America has moved on and we should have politics of belonging that welcomes everybody -- that's what the American people are for -- and I'm saddened for what the Republican party has become if they embrace that kind of homophobic rhetoric," Buttigieg said.

"This election is not about any of us candidates, it's about voters' lives," added Buttigieg as he recalled how he was re-elected to his former job as a mayor in conservative Indiana with an increased majority after he came out as gay.

Buttigieg has so far racked up the most delegates in the contest to become the Democratic Party's candidate to take on Trump in November, although none of the major states have yet to hold their presidential primaries.

Buttigieg takes lead in chaotic Iowa vote, Sanders second

Yahoo – AFP, Agnes Bun with Chris Lefkow in Washington, February 5, 2020

Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg claimed victory in Iowa although
full results have not yet been released (AFP Photo/WIN MCNAMEE)

Manchester (United States) (AFP) - Democratic White House candidate Pete Buttigieg seized a shock lead in the chaotic Iowa caucuses, closely trailed by leftist senator Bernie Sanders, according to partial returns released on Tuesday after an embarrassing delay in reporting the results.

Progressive standard-bearer Elizabeth Warren was in third place followed by Joe Biden, a disappointing showing for the former vice president who has claimed he is best positioned to defeat Donald Trump in November.

Buttigieg, the 38-year-old former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, who has been battling Biden for the moderate wing of the party, hailed what he called an "astonishing victory" in the midwestern farm state which kicks off the presidential nominating process.

"I have never been more confident in our campaign, in our team, and in the vision that brought to us this point," Buttigieg told ecstatic supporters in New Hampshire, which holds the next nominating contest on February 11.

With polls still mixed on whether Americans would be comfortable with an openly gay president, Buttigieg also made a rare, though implicit, reference to his sexuality -- and the added significance it gave the Iowa outcome.

Supporters of Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders wait for results 

at his caucus night watch party in Des Moines, Iowa (AFP Photo/kerem yucel)

"It validates for a kid, somewhere in a community, wondering if he belongs, or she belongs, or they belong in their own family, that if you believe in yourself and your country there's a lot backing up that belief," he said with a catch in his voice.

According to the partial results, Buttigieg, unknown nationally a year ago, leads with 26.8 percent followed by Sanders, the 78-year-old self-described democratic socialist, with 25.2 percent, followed by Senator Warren with 18.4 percent, and Biden with 15.4 percent.

The centrist senator from Minnesota Amy Klobuchar was in fifth place on 12.6 percent, with 71 percent of the precincts reporting.

The results were posted some 21 hours after Iowans gathered across the state to hold the first vote of the presidential nominating season.

Troy Price, the chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party, apologized profusely for the delay and blamed it on a "coding error" with an app being used for the first time to report the returns from precincts across the farm state.

Price pledged to provide the full results as soon as possible.

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden was trailing three challengers 

in the Iowa caucuses, according to partial results (AFP Photo/Scott Eisen)

"We have been working day and night to make sure that the results are accurate," he said. "And we also have a paper trail and documentation that we have been able to use to provide information to help verify the results."

As Iowa struggled to publish the results and frustrated Democratic candidates fumed, Trump gleefully pounced on the hold-up, describing the Democrats' failure to deliver timely results as an "unmitigated disaster."

"Nothing works, just like they ran the country," tweeted Trump -- hours before delivering his annual State of the Union speech to a joint session of Congress under the cloud of impeachment.

'Shocking incompetence'

The results are usually known within hours of the conclusion of the caucuses, which do not involve a traditional ballot but see voters attending public gatherings and voicing support for the candidate of their choice.

Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren addresses her supporters 

during a caucus night rally in Des Moines, Iowa (AFP Photo/CHIP SOMODEVILLA)

Iowa kicks off the process of selecting presidential nominees every four years, but the fiasco surrounding the results is likely to increase calls for the state to lose the honor.

"The top finishers, probably Sanders and Buttigieg, could have used their showings to launch into New Hampshire," the next contest, said Larry Sabato, a professor of politics at the University of Virginia.

"Instead, the story is the shocking incompetence of the Iowa Democratic Party."

He called for an end to the "strange system in a 91 percent white state" in favor of giving other states a chance to kick off the process.

Virginia Senator Mark Warner expressed alarm over the Iowa debacle.

"This chaos has created an environment where misinformation is now running rampant online, further undermining confidence in the democratic process," he said.

How the Democratic and Republican party primaries and caucuses choose 

presidential candidates for the 2020 election (AFP Photo/Jonathan WALTER)

With Iowa still mired in confusion, the Democratic candidates turned their sights on New Hampshire.

According to a Boston Globe/WBZ-TV/Suffolk University poll released Monday, Sanders is leading in the Granite State with 24 percent, followed by Biden on 18 percent, Warren with 13 percent and Buttigieg with 11 percent.

Alluding to his own victory in Republican caucuses in Iowa, Trump said that "the only person that can claim a very big victory in Iowa last night is 'Trump.'"

"When will the Democrats start blaming RUSSIA, RUSSIA, RUSSIA, instead of their own incompetence for the voting disaster that just happened in the Great State of Iowa?" Trump tweeted.

Buttigieg impact felt in US beyond his White House dream

Yahoo – AFP, Michael Mathes, May 5, 2019

South Bend Mayor and Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg (L) speaks
beside husband Chasten Glezman in South Bend, Indiana on April 22, 2019
(AFP Photo/KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI)

Washington (AFP) - The unprecedented campaign of Pete Buttigieg, with husband and potential first gentleman Chasten at his side, is shaking up politics and promises to change perceptions of same-sex marriage -- and what it means to be a family in America.

The Buttigiegs are the most visible same-sex couple of the moment, riding a wave of popularity as Pete, the 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Indiana, seeks the Democratic presidential nomination and the right to challenge Donald Trump in 2020.

Should the improbable become reality, Buttigieg would serve as America's first openly gay commander in chief, and his 29-year-old husband of 11 months would become the first-ever US first gentleman.

Together they would challenge expectations of what the first couple could or should be.

While that remains a far-off dream 18 months from election day, experts say the pair is already having substantial cultural impact.

Millions of Americans have now watched Buttigieg's televised town halls, seen the candidate and his husband in person on the campaign trail or viewed their television interviews.

This week's Time magazine profile boldly titled "First Family" features a cover photo of the couple standing outside their home, sleeves rolled up -- an unremarkable image capturing a remarkable cultural moment.

"Pete and Chasten are so... normal and American and relatable," Annise Parker, the former mayor of Houston and one of the first openly gay mayors of a major American city, told AFP.

Because of heightened media coverage during Buttigieg's rising star campaign -- he was virtually unknown weeks ago but now polls in the top tier among 21 candidates -- "it's driving this mainstream middle-American image of a young happily married couple," said Parker, who now heads Victory Fund, which supports LGBTQ candidates.

"It's hard to discriminate against someone you can relate to so strongly."

The Buttigiegs are the most visible same-sex couple of the moment, riding a wave of 

popularity as Pete, the 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Indiana, seeks the 

Democratic presidential nomination and the right to challenge Donald Trump 

in 2020 (AFP Photo/SCOTT OLSON)

The average American's position on gay marriage has evolved rapidly, said Brian Powell, a sociology professor at Indiana University who studies same-sex marriage.

In 2003, his research showed, a traditional husband-wife-children view of family dominated. By 2015, the "inclusionist" ideal prevailed, and marriage equality was the law of the land.

Much of that shift was attributable to television, notably shows like "Will and Grace," which helped normalize same-sex households to millions of viewers.

But the real-life Buttigiegs could put even more Americans at ease.

People are "seeing it in a very visible public figure," Powell said. "That can have a transformational effect."

Buttigieg came out as gay during his mayoral re-election campaign, and three years after the Supreme Court struck down state bans on same-sex marriage, he and Chasten tied the knot.

During his campaign launch speech in South Bend, Buttigieg offered thanks to "Chasten, my love, for giving me the strength to do this and the grounding to be myself as we go."

Contrast with Trump

Buttigieg, according to The Atlantic, is "a model of conventional, bourgeois gay domesticity."

He is a military veteran, a monogamous intellectual by all accounts, quick to show off their two dogs.

Much has been made of the contrast with the twice-divorced Trump, accused by multiple women of sexual assault or harassment, and whom Buttigieg has branded as operating a "pornstar presidency."

Buttigieg came out as gay during his mayoral re-election campaign, and three years 

after the Supreme Court struck down state bans on same-sex marriage, he and

Chasten tied the knot (AFP Photo/Eric BARADAT)

"If the public portrayals of the marriages are accurate, then I would say more American families are like the Buttigieg family than they are like the Trump family," Powell said.

For under-40 millennials, sexual orientation is just another human trait, like race or gender, and "is not in any way a disqualifier" for the presidency, said University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire associate professor of sociology Peter Hart-Brinson.

Not all are on board, particularly conservatives. Many in the LGBTQ community view Trump himself as hostile to their rights, and several states still allow employers to fire workers for being gay.

Buttigieg is an Episcopalian with an abiding faith in God, but Christian evangelist Franklin Graham denounced him by name last week.

"As a Christian I believe the Bible which defines homosexuality as sin, something to be repentant of, not something to be flaunted, praised or politicized," Graham tweeted.

"The Bible says marriage is between a man & a woman—not two men, not two women."

By many accounts, the Buttigieg marriage is storybook, a symbol of what is politically achievable today.

Chasten, sitting with his husband, told CBS News last week that they quarrel over who does the laundry or takes out the trash, just like most American couples.

"I do enjoy going out there with Pete and showing people that gay marriage is just like a straight marriage," he said.

Former VP Biden announces 2020 White House run

Yahoo – AFP, Michael Mathes, April 25, 2019

President Barack Obama (right) praised Biden but pointedly avoided endorsing
him (AFP Photo/ALEX WONG)

Washington (AFP) - Former US vice president and Democratic elder statesman Joe Biden launched his third White House bid Thursday, becoming the frontrunner in a crowded field and painting incumbent Donald Trump as a "threat" to America.

The 76-year-old is the most experienced and best recognized Democrat in the running, a veteran campaigner who has dominated early polls following months -- even years -- of planning.

In a three-and-a-half minute launch video, Biden he couldn't stand by and watch Trump "fundamentally alter the character of this nation" during a second four-year term.

Biden criticized the president's response to a deadly 2017 white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, recalling that Trump infamously described "very fine people" on both sides of the clashes.

"And in that moment I knew the threat to this nation was unlike any I had ever seen in my lifetime," Biden said.

The Democratic stalwart, for eight years Barack Obama's deputy, added that he couldn't remain idle while Trump stood to gut America's core values and "everything that made America America."

Trump's response was swift: he insulted Biden on Twitter, his favorite forum for smacking down rivals, casting doubt on his opponent's mental capacity.

Biden, pictured in a still from his announcement video, leads the polls with 

29 percent support (AFP Photo/HO)

'Sleepy Joe'

"Welcome to the race Sleepy Joe. I only hope you have the intelligence, long in doubt, to wage a successful primary campaign," Trump tweeted.

Biden, whose working-class appeal remains intact despite nearly half a century in Washington politics, is seen as a comforting, known quantity for American voters who will be vetting 20 Democrats now officially in the race.

Hours after his announcement, the gregarious Biden was in his element, pressing flesh and taking photographs with customers and employees at a Wilmington, Delaware pizza parlor, and greeting old acquaintances.

"Who's the best person to lead the country? That's what this is going to be all about and it's going to be for the voters to decide that," he told reporters.

Even before his official launch Biden led most surveys of Democratic voters. But recent controversy over his tactile style, particularly with women, could dampen his rollout.

The RealClearPolitics poll aggregate puts him as favorite with 29.3 percent support, followed by independent Senator Bernie Sanders, who votes with the Democrats, at 23 percent.

Both white men in their mid to late 70s, the pair are unlikely to be seen as the ideal shop window for a party seeking to win over young and minority voters.

Biden finds himself in a field of unprecedented diversity -- six contenders are women and three are black -- as he makes his third presidential run, following unsuccessful attempts in 1988 and 2008.

After the death of his son Beau from cancer, Biden opted out of a presidential campaign in 2016.

As he let the suspense over his plans drag out for months, the spotlight turned to younger faces including moderate South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who at 37 is less than half Biden's age.

President Barack Obama (right) praised Biden but pointedly avoided endorsing 

him (AFP Photo/ALEX WONG)

Top of the polls

Complicating matters, the last weeks have been clouded by accusations from multiple women who say Biden touched them inappropriately or made them feel uncomfortable with his shows of affection.

Biden, an old-school politico who acknowledges he is quick to offer hugs and shoulder rubs, has not outright apologized, but pledged to be "more mindful" about society's changing boundaries.

Obama, through a source close to his thinking, praised Biden but pointedly avoided endorsing, preferring to "let the candidates make their cases directly to the voters."

Biden concurred, saying he had discouraged his former boss from any public blessing because "whoever wins this nomination should win it on its own merits."

Several establishment Democrats did offer swift backing, including half a dozen lawmakers and a former Democratic Party boss.

Biden, who maintains a broad political network, is expected to mount a robust ground game.

But entering the race months after several rivals, he trails in a key benchmark: fundraising. He was headed Thursday to Philadelphia, reportedly to attend a high-dollar fundraiser hosted by a telecoms executive.

On Monday he travels to Pittsburgh, another city in must-win Pennsylvania, for his first major campaign event, a labor union address.

But resistance there was early dissent among progressives, including the Justice Democrats group, which criticized the party's "old guard" for failing to stop Trump at the ballot box.

"The party needs new leadership with a bold vision capable of energizing voters in the Democratic base who stayed home in 2016," the group said in a statement.

Democratic candidate Buttigieg brushes aside first homophobic hecklers

Yahoo – AFP, April 18, 2019

Pete Buttigieg and his husband Chasten (left) after the South Bend mayor
announced his candidacy (AFP Photo/JOSHUA LOTT)

Washington (AFP) - After his meteoric rise in the race to be the Democratic nominee for president, Pete Buttigieg on Wednesday was confronted with -- and brushed aside -- the first public heckling over his homosexuality.

The 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Indiana is the first openly gay candidate for the White House. A practicing Christian, he married his husband at an Episcopal church in his hometown.

Barely known when he jumped into the race at the end of January, he has since surged to the middle of the pack, but he remains behind the heavyweights.

His spouse was at his side when he officially launched his campaign on Sunday before heading to Iowa: a small state that is hugely influential in Democratic primaries because it is the first to hold its caucus -- in February 2020.

Larger crowds awaited him on Tuesday and Wednesday, and, in the course of interacting with voters, he encountered some who were unhappy about his sexuality.

"Remember Sodom and Gomorrah, Pete!" shouted one man during a meeting in Des Moines on Tuesday.

Three protesters dressed as the devil, Jesus and Buttigieg came to demonstrate 

in front of a house where the mayor was meeting with voters (AFP Photo/

SCOTT OLSON)

"You know the good news is... the condition of my soul is in the hands of God, but the Iowa caucuses are up to you," replied a composed Buttigieg, provoking laughter from the crowd.

In Fort Dodge, another Iowa city, he was interrupted by a heckler who shouted: "Grandparents, do you want your grandchildren following his example? God Loves Us."

There too Buttigieg responded calmly: "That gentleman believes that what he is doing is in line with the will of the creator -- I view it differently," adding that those with differences ought to be able to debate "in a spirit of respect."

Then on Wednesday morning, once more in Des Moines, three protesters dressed as the devil, Jesus and Buttigieg came to demonstrate in front of a house where the mayor was meeting with voters.

In a sign of his rising fame, President Donald Trump mentioned Buttigieg Wednesday among the possible Democrats he could face.

"It could be Bernie, and it could be Biden," he told SiriusXM host David Webb.

He went on: "Could be the mayor from Indiana. I think I'd like running against him, too. But it'll be interesting to see it unfold."

Pete Buttigieg is the two-term mayor of his hometown of South Bend, Indiana
(AFP Photo/Joshua Lott)

Related Article:

Gay mayor from 'Rust Belt' America to launch presidential bid

Gay mayor from 'Rust Belt' America to launch presidential bid

Yahoo – AFP, Nova SAFO,  April 14, 2019

Pete Buttigieg is the two-term mayor of his hometown of South Bend, Indiana
(AFP Photo/Joshua Lott)

Chicago (AFP) - Pete Buttigieg, the gay, liberal mayor of a small American city in the conservative bastion of Indiana, was expected to officially launch his presidential bid Sunday, joining a crowded field of Democrats vying for their party's nomination in 2020.

The 37-year-old Rhodes scholar and Afghanistan war veteran is the two-term mayor of his hometown of South Bend -- a left-leaning bubble in America's so-called "Rust Belt" region, where the decline of industries such as steel and automobile manufacturing has hurt local economies.

Voters in states such as Michigan and Wisconsin helped hand Republican US President Donald Trump his victory in the 2016 election.

Buttigieg, who is credited with helping turn South Bend around, has couched himself as a can-do reformer who can speak to voters across the political spectrum.

"Here you have this moment, probably the only moment in American history, where it just might make sense for somebody my age, coming from experience in the industrial Midwest, non-federal, different background, bringing something that will actually help Americans," Buttigieg told NBC's "Meet The Press" last weekend.

Buttigieg was expected to officially launch his candidacy Sunday afternoon in South Bend, giving his already surprisingly strong campaign an additional boost.

Buttigieg, who is credited with helping turn South Bend around, has couched himself 

as a can-do reformer who can speak to voters across the political spectrum (AFP 

Photo/Don Emmert)

In the three months since he declared an exploratory committee to test a presidential run, he has gone from relative obscurity to drawing large crowds at campaign stops.

He has raised $7 million dollars, more than most other candidates, and jumped to third place in the latest polls of voters in Iowa and New Hampshire -- the earliest states to vote in next year's primary elections.

Buttigieg versus Pence

The popular mayor who speaks eight languages and plays classical piano has been the focus of countless news stories and profiles.

The fascination has been in no small part due to his background: he would be the youngest, first openly gay, first millennial, and first mayor to become president.

He has had headline-grabbing moments, the most recent being his faith-based challenge of Vice President Mike Pence's views on same-sex marriage and LGBT rights.

Former Indiana governor Pence, a religious conservative, infamously supported a 2015 law that was widely interpreted as codifying discrimination against LGBT people. It was quickly changed after nationwide outrage.

"Speaking only for myself, I can tell you that if being gay was a choice, it was a choice made far, far above my pay grade," Buttigieg said in an April 7 speech.

"And that's the thing I wish the Mike Pences of the world would understand, that if you've got a problem with who I am, your problem is not with me. Your quarrel, sir, is with my creator."

Buttigieg jumped to third place in the latest polls of Iowa and New Hampshire 

voters (AFP Photo/Ethan Miller)

It was a soundbite-ready moment -- like several others he has enjoyed -- that replayed throughout the week in American media.

'Destined for national politics'

Buttigieg's Sunday launch event was scheduled to take place at an expansive South Bend building that once housed an assembly plant for defunct auto manufacturer Studebaker.

The plant's closure in 1963 still reverberated in the city in 2011 when he was elected mayor. He set out to tear down decaying, abandoned homes and restore the blighted Studebaker complex to make it suitable for new high-tech companies.

In an unlikely feat, the city has reversed decades of population decline and attracted new businesses and development, with the mayor's popularity growing in the process.

"His appeal, for many people in South Bend, is his ability to look forward and to focus on better days ahead," South Bend-based political science professor Elizabeth Bennion of Indiana University told AFP.

"Once people looked at his resume and heard him speak, many started talking about the fact that he was destined for national politics."