Hollywood’s top gay and LGBT donors don’t believe that Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg stands a chance of winning the party’s nomination, and are instead looking to back candidates with strong records of promoting LGBT rights, Politico outlined in a report Friday.
Many Hollywood donors have been impressed by Buttigieg’s campaign, where he has openly discussed his sexuality and marriage to 29-year-old school teacher Chasten Glezman, agreeing to host fundraisers for him that have already raised a substantial war chest. However, many donors are reluctant to exclusively commit to Buttigieg, instead opting to spread their donations across a variety of candidates who they consider steadfast supporters of the LGBT agenda.
“As historic as Buttigieg’s candidacy might be, a number of Hollywood’s most prolific LGBTQ donors aren’t ready to commit to him exclusively just yet,” the magazine notes. “Many of Hollywood’s influential base of bundlers and donors are backing multiple candidates, spreading their money around, contributing to other politicians with whom they have longtime relationships and who have their own long track record on LGBTQ issues, like Kamala Harris and Joe Biden.”
According to a variety of donors who spoke with reporter Ted Johnson, there remain concerns over Buttigieg’s ability to win the African American vote, his lack of major government experience, whether his campaign can scale on the national level required to win the nomination, and whether he is the candidate best placed to take on President Donald Trump.
“This cycle, though, with so many donors courting Hollywood’s LGBTQ support, the money pool is taking a more cautious approach,” Johnson explains. “Some of the donors see this wait-and-see attitude towards Buttigieg as a sign of progress: Just because Buttigieg is gay doesn’t necessarily mean that he will have the automatic exclusive support of the community.”
Despite the reluctance of high-profile donors to commit, Buttigieg has experienced a meteoric rise from an unknown mayor of South Bend, Indiana, to a major player in the upcoming Democratic primaries. According to recent RealClearPolitics polling average, Buttigieg commands 7.1 percent support, level with Kamala Harris, and well in front of other major Democratic Party figures such as Beto O’Rourke and Cory Booker.
Follow Ben Kew on Facebook, Twitter at @ben_kew, or email him at bkew@breitbart.com
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.