At least one sponsor has cut ties with the New Republic after the magazine published and then quickly removed and apologized for a column about 2020 candidate Pete Buttigieg’s sexuality.
The League of Conservation Voters cut ties with a climate change event that’s co-hosted by the New Republic after the article was published.
“The offensive piece by this author, and the choice to run it, are inconsistent with our values and LCV is withdrawing our participation in the presidential primary candidate climate forum previously announced in New York City on September 23,” the group’s President Gene Karpinski said in a statement. “We will remain focused on the important work of elevating the climate crisis in this election and encouraging all the candidates to be prioritizing solutions.”
LCV is a prominent environmental group that was signed up to help co-host a discussion about climate change at the forum, according to CNN Business.
It appears the entire event has been cancelled, according to New Republic climate reporter Emily Atkin, who tweeted she was “devastated” by the cancellation triggered by “a couple of dudes’ bad decisions.”
All I can muster for now is that we can’t let a couple dudes’ bad decisions ruin the months of work we did to bring climate to the forefront of this election.
I encourage @LCVoters, @Earthjustice, and @NRDC_AF to re-join the presidential climate summit with Gizmodo, without TNR.
— Emily Atkin (@emorwee) July 15, 2019
TNR has come under considerable fire for the supposed satire that referred to Buttigieg as “Mary Pete” and made highly speculative and unsubstantiated remarks about his sexual activity. The column was replaced by an editor’s note on the website, apologizing for the “inappropriate and invasive” article.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to clarify the original TNR piece’s wild claims about Buttigieg’s sexual activity.
