Is the Republican party ready to nominate a confirmed bachelor for president? We’re going to get a chance to find out. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina has formed an exploratory committee for a presidential run. Graham is joining a field so crowded with candidates that they threaten to outnumber the sum total of registered Republicans in the country.
Over the years, Graham has lovingly burnished his antigay creds, opposing the repeal of DADT and gay-inclusive immigration reform. Just this week, he proved once again that he can drag his knuckles with the best of them, asking Attorney General nominee Loretta Lynch why marriage equality didn’t clear the way for polygamy.
Of course, Graham’s main problem is that he may have some skeletons rattling around in his, er, closet. His far-right opponents in last year’s GOP primary didn’t have any problems labeling him “ambiguously gay” and “a nancy boy.” Rumors about Graham on the verge of being outed pop up every once and a while, a phenomenon that will increase dramatically if he runs for president. Esquire political columnist Charles Pierce pointedly calls Graham Senator Huckleberry J. Butchmeup. (Graham’s official photo doesn’t do much to knock that nickname down.)
Needless to say, Graham insists he’s not gay. He’s done so by speculating about having a relationship with Ricky Martin, which is exactly the kind of thing that a red-blooded heterosexual would do.
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The only bachelor to occupy the White House was James Buchanan, who had a long-standing relationship with Franklin Pierce’s Vice President, William Rufus King. History rates Buchanan as one of the worst presidents ever. Given Graham’s track record in the Senate, we’re confident that he could give Buchanan a run for his money.
Ladbrook
OH YES… PLEEEEAAASE run for President, Nancy. And might I suggest your BFF John McCain as first lady?
Most of my cousins still live in the Charleston/Myrtle Beach coastal areas, and unfortunately, most of them are Republicans who vote for Graham. Not surprisingly, they ALL say that they know he’s gay. They like him because 1) he denies it; 2) he secures lots of pork spending for the state.
I suspect that his Republican enemies in SC have the goods on him (pics, etc) but choose not to run them out of fear of embarrassing the party, BUT national Dems and the media will have no such fears. Get ready for a string of past lovers on the Maddow show.
jcrussous
He has “gay face,” so if the gaydar fits…..
Kieran
How could he be gay? Lindsay is constantly pushing for War with Iraq, Iran, Syria and Russia. He’s a real macho man who would send other people’s kids off to fight a war in a heartbeat. He wants to bomb those “terrorist” Muslim ragheads into submission. He brushes off “collateral damage” with a dismissive snort and wave of his small, delicate hand. Would somebody who is gay be such a flaming chicken hawk?
ted72
@jcrussous: Beat me to the comment
NoCagada
I suspect he has a lot of hoopskirts.
bottom72
His internal homophobia is so harmful for America. I wish he would come out and be himself.
SteveDenver
Just imagine: a President and First Lady all in one!
Gays in conservative ranks deserve all the misery they receive.
jamesinNYC
@Ladbrook: Sadly, you are correct. I know a 20-something gay man who is from South Carolina, but lives in NYC. He thinks Lindsey is great and has voted for him. Nothing I could say would convince him how bad Lindsey is for the gay community. It is a very strange mindset.
Desert Boy
Miss Lindsey is a disgusting human being. He’s Mary Cheney with a penis.
Ummmm Yeah
Why are we not playing private detectives to follow and expose all these raggedy assed old republican queens?
Ladbrook
@Ummmm Yeah: Good idea and I’ve wondered the same many times. I think it’s because politicians know that once that starts, it usually ends up taking down everyone. They ALL have secrets… and not all are of the sexual variety. They more or less protect each other or they use that type of info to get votes on key legislation. Just a theory, of course, but it makes sense.
After all, who took down John Edwards in 2008? It wasn’t Hillary or Obama. It was the National Enquirer. I’d bet my next three paychecks that the N.E. has at least two teams of snoops all over Graham (and probably Cruz, as well).
Cam
The thing that bothers me is that you KNOW the media has proof this guy is gay and don’t run it.
Remember, Neil Patrick Harris, LAnce Bass etc… were outed because Perez Hilton ran photographs of them that were sitting in photo stocks for ages that no other media would touch.
My guess is multiple reporters in South Carolina know EXACTLY who Miss Lindsey is sleeping with. Hopefully one of them will grow a set and run the story.
Kangol
I always wondered what happened to Mike Rogers’ report on Lindsay Graham. Shortly after that, didn’t Rogers slow down with all the outing? He caught quite a few horrible hypocrites during his run, though.
Graham is reprehensible because he is always pushing for anti-gay laws and policies, yet because of LGBT activists, he can go to any state in the country and have sex with a man, and not get locked up. Like Mary Cheney he could even marry another person of the same sex, even though he has advocated anti-gay measures over and over. He can come out as a gay serviceman and not be thrown out of the service, yet voted against repealing DADT, and has done zilch for gay military people or vets.
I don’t think he’ll dare seriously run for the presidency, though. He knows that closet door would be torn off its hinges. I also don’t think he’s the only closeted Republican (and there probably are closeted Democrats, though nearly the entire caucus has voted for pro-gay legislation at this point, right?) in the US Senate either.
This site posted an article about one of them (last name begins with B) a year or two ago, right? Another (last name begins with K) was outed during his last Senate run. And there’s Graham’s bachelor junior Senator pal, the first black Republican elected to the Senate from a Southern state. He’s not the butchest man in the Senate either, just saying.
GG
Anti-gay, republican, conservative, closet-case Lindsey Graham running for president?
Log Cabin Club members just gleefully squeezed their butt plugs a bit tighter.
AtticusBennett
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTP3eUyOkoE
jwtraveler
Does anyone have any PROOF that he’s gay or is it just a lot of innuendo? I have not love for the man, but the fact that he’s a bachelor doesn’t mean he’s gay. If he wanted to solidify his straight credentials, he could easily find a beard to marry him.
Queertyreader2
ROTFL Lindsey Graham, Paul Lynde, Rip Torn, Charles Nelson Reilly, Dick Sergeant, Marcus Bachmann….The “HETEROSEXUAL” effeminate males….OH WAIT a gosh darn minute!!!!! LOL
Desert Boy
@jwtraveler: Like Ohio Gov. John Kashich. Once the gay rumors started, he suddenly found a beard — I mean, a wife (HAHAHAHAHA) to marry and quell the gay rumors.
jar
Oh, Miss Lindsey, you’re playing with fire. Be careful, dear. Very careful.
1dizzy1
@AtticusBennett: My dear, this old girl needs to head out tonight and get herself some ham biscuits.
BJ McFrisky
@SteveDenver: said, “Gays in conservative ranks deserve all the misery they receive.”
FINALLY a liberal who wears his disdain on his sleeve for those he disagrees with politically and doesn’t hide behind the kumbaya we-love-everyone image that most liberals desperately need to project.
It’s no secret most liberals feel the same way; now if only more of them were half this honest.
Kieran
The sad truth of the matter is that if Lindsay Graham were a openly gay man there is no way in hell he’d ever get elected US Senator in South Carolina…or most other states in this country for that matter. Homophobia is REAL.
Ms Urethra Johnson
He looks like a drag queen out of costume… most probably a closeted cross dresser…
TomOH
He seriously looks like an old woman with short hair dressed in mens clothing.
Cagnazzo82
If/when Lindsay Graham comes out *absolutely no one* will be shocked.
The lady doth protest too much!
Cam
@BJ McFrisky:
And, as always, BJ will DESPERATELY try to change the topic when the subject is about an anti-gay republican.
Bear Aspirin
Young Blanche Devereaux has my vote!
transiteer
Gawd. I’m gay but even from a great distance away, I had this twit pegged as gay as they come. I was surprised he was republican (repugnican). Go ahead Lindsey baby, take a run.
Low Country Boy
I’m from Charleston, SC. I’m not saying the man is gay; however, if he’s not, he misses a really good opportunity.
Impossible Boy
Honest to god, I thought the man in the picture was a lesbian.
Cam
Miss Lindsey is so gay that Richard Simmons looks at him and says “Pffft, THAT queen?”
1EqualityUSA
ew. Just, ew.
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
Miss Lindsay Grahm, oh my!! just the thought of you, such a pretty little thing running for the big ‘ole oval office gives me the vapors!!
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
@Ummmm Yeah:
100% Co-sign. My #1 item once I win the power ball is to hire the bestest private investigators to put a tail on all these twisted, abhorrent, noxious hate filled pigs who obsess over spewing hatred upon the Gays to blast open their vile closet doors and expose to the world the piled up little skeletons that come pouring out………………..(
onthemark
@BJ McFrisky: BJ, I’ve never understood where you got the idea that liberals have that “kumbaya” attitude. Maybe this is something Rush Limbaugh bloviates about, that we actual real-life liberals are blissfully unaware of?
You seem to be fixated endlessly on any supposed “hypocrisy” of liberals, rather than looking at the actual anti-GAY policies of a politician like Lindsey Graham. Does the latter concern you AT ALL?
onthemark
@BJ McFrisky: Oh right – a couple of months ago, I joked to you that you should take a vacation on Malaysia Airlines. You whined and whined and whined that I was being SO MEAN to you and NOT being “kumbaya” and I was showing my true true liberal colors!
Make up your mind!
schwma
“Esquire political columnist Charles Pierce pointedly calls Graham Senator Huckleberry J. Butchmeup. (Graham’s official photo doesn’t do much to knock that nickname down.)”
Cracks me up. I love it!
Atomicrob
Its always the closeted ones who are the most vehemently anti-gay . . . if only they would just be honest about their sexuality.
woodin
sorry folks, NEVER met a straight guy who smiled like him and mannerisms to go with it… without thinking he’s in deep denial or that he’s out to everyone but himself.
mbfmark
@Kieran: Its called OVER COMPENSATION! He can’t act butch so he tries to speak it instead.
ingyaom
He looks more like an old woman than Bruce Jenner.
billeetee
Ah yes, “Miss Girl” is of the thought that “HOT DAAAYYYAMMM! Ah kin git ta be tha prezeedent and furs ladee, tew..awwl at tha saaam tyumm!”
mdosac
This dangerous little queen needs to be outed as soon as possible before he causes any more damage.
Cam
Most Senators have time for their spouses AND a mistress and yet Miss Lindsey is just too busy to date. LOL
sectbrawn
Lispy Graham will be the prettiest southern belle in the White House has seen in a long time. Picture her on the veranda overlooking the south lawn in her Scarlet O’Hara outfit fanning herself before a press conference.