The New Republic magazine has retracted an op-ed that made vulgar comments about presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg’s sexuality and replaced it Saturday with an Editor’s Note explaining it was removed “in response to criticism of the piece’s inappropriate and invasive content.”
The op-ed titled “My Mayor Pete Problem” penned by gay literary critic Dale Peck was published Friday. It described the South Bend, Indiana, mayor as “the gay equivalent of Uncle Tom” and referred to him as “Mary Pete” throughout the column.
The New Republic editor-in-chief Win McCormack issued a statement on Saturday afternoon which included an apology to the mayor and the magazine’s readers.
“I want to extend our sincerest apologies to Mayor Buttigieg, as well as to our readers for an article that was inappropriate and offensive,” McCormack said in the statement.
“We have high standards at The New Republic, but sometimes we fall short,” he added. “Yesterday we made a mistake, but we remain committed to honoring the tradition of high standards and journalistic integrity that have been the hallmark of The New Republic for more than 100 years.”
A statement from The New Republic’s editor in chief, Win McCormack: pic.twitter.com/yr07M0Ajdo
— The New Republic (@newrepublic) July 13, 2019
According to NBC News, the op-ed said that because Buttigieg waited until his early 30s to come out as gay, he would be too preoccupied with sex and drugs to be an effective president.
“The last thing I want in the White House is a gay man staring down 40 who suddenly realizes he didn’t get to have all the fun his straight peers did when they were teenagers,” Peck wrote in the now-deleted piece.
Among the several crude comments in Peck’s post, he also said that the only thing that distinguishes Buttigieg from the other “well-educated reasonably intelligent white dude who wanna be president is what he does with his d—.”‘
In an earlier statement to CNN’s Brian Stelter, New Republic editor Chris Lehmann added, “The New Republic recognizes that this post crossed a line, and while it was largely intended as satire, it was inappropriate and invasive.”
The Buttigieg campaign declined to comment, and Peck didn’t immediately respond to a similar request.