New York Magazine has no problem engaging in what leftists would decry as blatant gay shaming, so long as the target is Republican. On Thursday, the paper published its latest hit piece on Republican Rep. George Santos, the freshman lawmaker who, after he was elected in New York’s 3rd congressional district on Long Island, was caught fabricating his resume.
“George Santos, MAGA It Girl,” headlined the article by features writer Shawn McCreesh.
On substance, there’s almost nothing in the more than 3,000-word column to suggest Santos is the new Republican “it girl.” The article is more a feature piece from a mid-level staffer than a snarky profile of the freshman representative, but it’s definitely still both.
McCreesh spent the first quarter of the column complaining that his primary subject wouldn’t offer him an interview, clearly for good reason.
“I crash his table and plead repeatedly for an interview. He crosses his arms and purses his lips,” McCreesh wrote. “It’s not even like I can buy him a drink, because he’s only sipping water and chewing gum. Lots of gum. He spits out catty remarks as though he’s starring in his very own episode of Drag Race.”
It’s easy to imagine the outrage a similar column written about a gay leftist would provoke, branding a scandal-ridden lawmaker as the Democratic Party’s “it girl” who pursed his lips. Feminizing and emasculating gay men by referring to them as female has long been a go-to form of anti-gayness liberals used to condemn. Simply look back two years ago when the leftist world lost its mind over Tucker Carlson pondering how Pete and Chasten Buttigieg might breastfeed.
Gay outlets were particularly offended. Never mind that the transportation secretary was taking an eight-week paternity leave during infrastructure talks on Capitol Hill and a supply chain crisis that left grocery stores empty. Ninety percent of new fathers take paternity leave, but 70 percent of them take two weeks or less.
Buttigieg, 41, is somehow a star in the Democratic Party despite his tenure as transportation chief being marked by scandal after scandal, from private flights to a broken transportation system. There’s no shortage of glossy coverage of Pete Buttigieg in New York Magazine. During the Democrat presidential primary in 2019, the paper labeled Buttigieg “Wonder Boy.”
“Pete Buttigieg is a gay Harvard alum, fluent in Gramsci, Joyce, and Norwegian. And he’s the Democrats’ folksiest heartland hope,” blared the headline, “Really!”
“Pete Buttigieg Is Living His Best Life,” read another headline from March last year. The profile celebrated the new transportation secretary as an influential “D.C. power broker.” Clearly, Buttigieg has been enjoying those private flights that brought down former Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price in the Donald Trump administration.
Given leftists’ obsession with identity politics, shouldn’t New York Magazine be celebrating that Republicans elected a gay non-Caucasian man? Not a chance. On the other hand, the snarky criticism might actually propel Santos to stardom in the same way GOP Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene went from rabid conspiracy theorist to a coveted endorsement.
Americans might hate liars, but they hate the media more. Politicians are expected to lie. Corporate outlets pretend they don’t. The more attacks that Santos gets from elite media, the more they amplify his profile.
