今日吃瓜

Right-wing Fox 今日吃瓜 commentator Tucker Carlson has accused out US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg of lying about being gay.

Carlson鈥檚 rant, in Wednesday’s episode of Tucker Carlson Tonight, was brought on by Buttigieg鈥檚 interview with CBS 今日吃瓜. During the interview, the transportation secretary pointed to the political rhetoric directed at the LGBTQI community for the recent shooting at Club Q in Colorado, which took the lives of five people and injured over a dozen.聽

Buttigieg said that 鈥淚f anybody claims to be surprised that political attacks on a community that doesn鈥檛 hurt anybody are sometimes followed by violent physical attacks on that same community, I just don鈥檛 think they鈥檙e being honest.鈥�

Carlson took issue with Buttigieg鈥檚 statement, saying, 鈥淚t鈥檚 not like Pete Buttigieg wants to talk about how things are going over at the Transportation Department, which he supposedly runs. No, Pete Buttigieg wants to talk about identity. He always wants to talk about identity.聽

鈥淎nd the funny, ironic thing is, until just a few years ago, Buttigieg wouldn鈥檛 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?

鈥淣ow he鈥檚 happy to use his sexual orientation as a cudgel to bash you repeatedly in the face into submission.鈥�

Tucker Carlson's newest homophobic conspiracy theory:

"Until just a few years ago, Pete Buttigieg wouldn't even admit he was gay. He hid that and then lied about it for reasons he has never been asked to explain. Why not?"

— Kat Abughazaleh (@KatAbughazaleh)

Rather Than Focusing On Real Issues They鈥檝e Decided To Focus On Hate

In an interview with CNN, Buttigieg鈥檚 husband, Chasten Buttigieg responded to this, saying, 鈥淭his kind of rhetoric is easy. It鈥檚 so easy to attack people and to go on your talk show and fire people up about something that鈥檚 not actually happening.鈥澛�

He continued, 鈥淚 love my husband. I know he鈥檚 a committed public servant and he has everyone鈥檚 best interests at heart. I just think these people, again with these megaphones 鈥� they have to have a big platform and rather than focusing on real issues, people鈥檚 lives, making them better, they鈥檝e decided to focus on hate.鈥�

On multiple occasions, Buttigieg has mentioned that one of the reasons he did not come out during his military service was because of 鈥淒on鈥檛 Ask, Don鈥檛 Tell,鈥� which banned openly gay people from serving in the military.

Buttigieg: Part Of Who I Am

In 2015, in an article he wrote for the while mayor,聽 Buttigieg discussed another reason why it took him time to come out.

In the article he writes, 鈥淚 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鈥檚 just a fact of life, like having brown hair, and part of who I am.鈥澛�

鈥淧utting something this personal on the pages of a newspaper does not come easy. We Midwesterners are instinctively private to begin with, and I鈥檓 not used to viewing this as anyone else鈥檚 business.

鈥淏ut it鈥檚 clear to me that at a moment like this, being more open about it could do some good,鈥� Buttigieg continued.聽

This isn’t the first time Carlson has gone on a anti-LGBTQI rant.

In , he accused schools and hospitals of 鈥渟ex crimes鈥� and 鈥渟exualising children鈥� for discussing sexuality and providing gender-affirming care.