Rep. Derrick Van Orden says Democrats will have a harder time than Republicans electing a gay president because Black voters, a core part of their party’s base, aren’t yet comfortable with the idea of a gay commander-in-chief.
The Wisconsin Republican’s comments came days after former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who is gay and a likely 2028 presidential contender, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he, “of course,” believes the country is ready to break through the rainbow glass ceiling.
Asked by TMZ whether he agreed with Mr. Buttigieg’s assessment, Mr. Van Orden said Thursday that sexuality does not factor into how he judges a candidate — and then he put on his political science hat.
“I’m endorsed by the Log Cabin Republicans, which are a group of conservatives that happen to have a different view on who they wanna be with than me,” Mr. Van Orden said, referring to the LGBTQ conservative group that backed his reelection campaign. “So, I mean, again, the political science, the Democratic Party needs to carry African American votes, or they’ll never get anybody elected. And statistically speaking, if you look at their actual, you know, polling stuff, African Americans are not ready to vote for a gay candidate.”
Pressed on whether that meant a gay Republican would likely reach the White House before a gay Democrat, Mr. Van Orden said, “Well, if you wanna look at it objectively, yeah.”
During his Sunday appearance on “Meet the Press,” Mr. Buttigieg said he wouldn’t have run for president in 2020 if he didn’t believe the country was ready to elect a gay president.
The issue, though, did hover over his candidacy.
Mr. Buttigieg notched a surprising win in the Iowa Democratic caucuses, becoming the first openly gay candidate to win a major party’s presidential nominating contest, and finished a close second in the New Hampshire primary before his campaign lost momentum in South Carolina when he ran into resistance from Black voters.
His sexuality also apparently hurt his chances of being vice president.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris considered Mr. Buttigieg her first choice for a running mate during her 2024 presidential campaign, writing in her memoir, “107 Days,” that he would have been “an ideal partner” if she “were a straight white man.”
Ms. Harris wrote that she ultimately decided against it, believing a ticket pairing a Black woman with a gay man was “too big of a risk.”
Mr. Buttigieg said his recent political travels around the country have reinforced his belief that voters are focused on economic struggles under President Trump, not someone’s sexual orientation.
“Right now Americans are hurting in Trump’s economy,” he said.
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