The New Republic on Saturday retracted a homophobic op-ed about presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg and the editor issued an apology.
The piece, titled “My Mayor Pete Problem,” was published Friday and penned by openly gay literary critic Dale Peck. In it, Peck reportedly described Buttigieg as “the gay equivalent of Uncle Tom,” and he referred to the South Bend, Indiana, mayor as “Mary Pete” throughout the column.
New Republic’s editor-in-chief Win McCormack issued an apology on Saturday afternoon, saying in part that the op-ed should not have been published.
“We have high standards at The New Republic, but sometimes we fall short,” McCormack said in the statement, which included an apology to Buttigieg and readers.
Peck reportedly questioned the 37-year-old Buttigieg’s priorities since he did not come out as gay until his 30s and speculated that Buttigieg would be too preoccupied with sex and drugs to be an effective president.
