Fox News host Tucker Carlson is absolutely livid because he claims that Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg didn’t “even admit that he was gay” until a few years ago and “lied about it for reasons he has never been asked to explain.”
Carlson made his remarks in reference to the mass shooting at an LGBTQ bar in Colorado Springs that left five dead and dozens of others injured.
“Pete Buttigieg, of course, couldn’t pass up a moment like this. It’s not like Pete Buttigieg wants to talk about how things are going over at the Transportation Department, which he supposedly runs. Short answer not well.”
That led Carlson to go on an extended rant about Buttigieg in which he accused the transportation secretary of using the Colorado shooting to advance his political aims:
“No, Pete Buttigieg wants to talk about identity. He always wants to talk about identity. And the funny, ironic thing is and the tell just a few years ago, Buttigieg wouldn’t even admit that he was gay. He hid that and then lied about it for reasons he has never been asked to explain. Why not?
“But whatever. Now he is happy to use his sexual orientation as a cudgel to bash you repeatedly in the face into submission. Quote, here’s his latest, ‘If you’re a politician or media figure who sets up the LGBTQ community to be hated and feared, not because any of us who ever harmed you, but because you find it useful that don’t you dare act surprised when this kind of violence follows.'”
The Fox host concluded:
“Buttigieg, now that you’re admitting you’re gay after lying about it, since we’re talking about identity. What do you have to say about that? Well, nothing. Weirdly, Pete Buttigieg hasn’t said anything, nor has he apologized for attacking other people on false pretenses.”
As with nearly everything said by Carlson and the other prime time hosts on Fox, the premise of his argument against Buttigieg is based on bullshit and outright lies that have absolutely no grounding in fact. Instead, they emanate from a place of hatred, homophobia, and self-loathing.
Buttigieg has indeed addressed why he was so reluctant to come out before he did, writing:
“I was well into adulthood before I was prepared to acknowledge the simple fact that I am gay. It took years of struggle and growth for me to recognize that it’s just a fact of life, like having brown hair, and part of who I am.”
And Buttigieg also explained why he remained closeted while serving in the military, noting:
“For individual servicemembers, that meant hiding who they were from the people they trusted with their lives. In some cases it meant living a life that was less than whole.”
Poor Tucker. He can’t stand the fact that Pete Buttigieg is more accomplished than he’ll ever be.