Politics

Tulsi Gabbard accuses Black lesbian Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot of “anti-white racism”

Tulsi Gabbard is a smiling woman who is running as a possible Democratic Presidential candidate
Tulsi Gabbard Photo: Shutterstock

Former Representative and Democratic presidential primary candidate Tulsi Gabbard spent the weekend trying to convince the White House and prominent Democrats to disavow Lori Lightfoot, the out mayor of Chicago, after she announced she will prioritize media requests from reporters of color.

“Mayor Lightfoot’s blatant anti-white racism is abhorrent. I call upon President Biden, Kamala Harris, and other leaders of our county [sic]—of all races—to join me in calling for Mayor Lightfoot’s resignation,” Gabbard tweeted. “Our leaders must condemn all racism, including anti-white.”

Related: Tulsi Gabbard tells Tucker Carlson gender-neutral language denies the “existence of women”

Lightfoot won the election in a run-off in May 2019. She became the only black lesbian mayor in the nation – and the first out mayor of one of America’s three largest cities.

Recognizing the second anniversary of her narrow election, Lightfoot announced that she is disappointed in the “overwhelming whiteness and maleness of Chicago media outlets, editorial boards, the political press corps, and yes, the City Hall press corps specifically” that covers her.

For that reason, she is “being intentional about prioritizing media requests from POC reporters.” Lightfoot took questions only from reporters of color on May 20, the anniversary of her inauguration, for one round of interviews.

Gabbard, who has made a habit of appearing on Fox News, earned praise from other right-wing lawmakers, such as Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO).

“I’m with @TulsiGabbard on Lori Lightfoot,” Boebert tweeted. “Her comments are disgusting, despicable and simply inexplicable. She needs to resign.”

Gabbard ran in the Democratic presidential primary in 2020 and faced strong criticism for her past work as a conservative activist including working for an anti-LGBTQ organization.

Before Gabbard was elected to Congress, she worked for one of her father’s anti-LGBTQ organizations, the Alliance for Traditional Marriage, which she later cited as a positive experience when she ran for the state legislature in 2002.

“Working with my father, Mike Gabbard, and others to pass a constitutional amendment to protect traditional marriage, I learned that real leaders are willing to make personal sacrifices for the common good,” she told the Honolulu Star-Bulletin at the time.

The Alliance for Traditional Marriage’s website, which appears to have been written by Gabbard’s father, had an FAQ that promoted conversion therapy, telling people that “a person can walk away from homosexuality if they are repentant, sincere, and determined” and “for those who experience the urge for sexual activity with someone of the same sex, it’s possible to overcome those sexual desires, no matter how powerful they may be.”

When asked about this, she said that she personally never supported conversion therapy and in early 2019 she made a video apologizing for her anti-LGBTQ past. She said that her views had changed, but she was still accusing Democrats of “fomenting religious bigotry” for saying that Christian judges should not impose their religious beliefs on others.

She was the second-to-last candidate to withdraw from the primary. She endorsed Joe Biden and did not run for reelection for Congress. She did, however, introduce a bill trying to ban trans girls and women from participating in sports prior to leaving office, knowing it would not be considered at the end of Congress’s session.

Lightfoot has not responded to Gabbard. Neither Biden nor Harris has responded to Lightfoot’s decision or Gabbard’s comments.

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