Biden defends LGBTQ record at Iowa forum

Democratic presidential candidates addressed a forum dedicated to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues in Iowa on Friday evening. During the event, former Vice President Joe Biden engaged in a tense exchange with a female moderator over his record on supporting gay rights.

Biden was challenged by moderator Lyz Lenz, a Cedar Rapids Gazette columnist, about his support for the Defense of Marriage Act and Don't Ask, Don't Tell as a senator.

Lenz also questioned Biden about his comment that Vice President Mike Pence, who has a history of supporting anti-LGBTQ rights policies as governor of Indiana, was a "decent guy."

Joe Biden More

  • Biden says Trump "could be impeached" based on House probe results
  • Biden defends LGBTQ record at Iowa forum
  • 2020 Democratic candidates embrace the selfie line
  • Joe Biden's sister dismisses calls for Justice Kavanaugh's impeachment
  • Biden releases new Iowa digital health care ad emphasizing family

More in Joe Biden

Biden pointed out that he came out in support of same-sex marriage before former President Barack Obama in 2012. Biden, seemingly sarcastically, called Lenz a "lovely person." After their exchange, Lenz tweeted that Biden called her a "real sweetheart," which she took as condescending.

As I was walking off the stage with @JoeBiden he said to me dryly, "You're a real sweetheart." #LGBTQforum

— Lyz a real sweetheart (@lyzl) September 21, 2019

Supporters are quick to note Biden did vote for an amendment to strike Don't Ask, Don't Tell, which was introduced as a compromise to allow gay people to serve in the military, in the 1990s, and that he has a long history of supporting benefits for same-sex couples.

The forum came as Senator Kamala Harris is doubling down on her efforts in Iowa. While Harris has been slipping in the polls, she has announced her determination to finish in the top three in the Iowa caucus.

"I'm moving here," Harris has joked. She has also said: "It can be frustrating, frankly, to have to make these decisions that that feel like a trade-off. But I plan on spending as much time as I can here."

Voter John Elphic told CBS News that after attending events by Harris and Senator Elizabeth Warren, he is still torn as for whom he will vote. "I like 'em both," Elphic said.

Undecided voters like Elphic can show up to another big political event Saturday: the Iowa Steak Fry, where organizers grill 10,500 steaks for more than 12,000 attendees, who will get to hear from 17 candidates. The event will also have 1,000 vegan burgers, all of it made on 10 grills by 40 grillers.

Ed O'Keefe contributed to this report.

By Grace Segers - cbsnews >>

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tennessee preacher-cop calls for execution of LGBTQ people

Image
(CNN) Authorities in Tennessee are reviewing all pending cases involving a Knox County Sheriff's Office detective after he gave a sermon at his church that called for the government to execute members of the LGBTQ community. "They are worthy of death," Grayson Fritts said in a June 2 sermon at All Scripture Baptist Church, a small church in Knoxville that he leads. The church posted the sermon online and then removed it, according to The Washington Post. The video was picked up by the Tennessee Holler, an independent liberal news outlet, and edited into a six-minute clip. "God has instilled the power of civil government to send the police in 2019 out to the LGBT freaks and arrest them and have a trial for them, and if they are convicted, then they are to be put to death," he said in the clip. Fritts said it would be easy to find people to arrest at events such as gay pride parades. "We have a bunch of them we're going to get conv...
Read more

Trump claims he exerted "no pressure whatsoever" in released Ukraine call — live updates

President Trump claims he exerted "no pressure whatsoever" over Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate the Bidens, as Mr. Trump continues to hold meetings with other world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly after the release of the partial transcript of his July call . In an odd turn of events, one of those world leaders the president is scheduled to meet with Wednesday afternoon is Zelensky. But Americans can decide for themselves whether Mr Trump exerted pressure over a foreign leader to investigate his political rival. In the much-anticipated memorandum of the call, Mr. Trump urges Zelensky to look into unsubstantiated claims that former Vice President Joe Biden allegedly tried to stop prosecution that would affect his son. The president, according to the call memo, urged Ukraine to work with his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and Attorney General William Barr on the matter. The memo, however, is not verbatim, but rather, a summar...
Read more

Social media blocked as Liberians protest 'corruption and creeping dictatorship'

Image
Demonstrators in Monrovia, Liberia, during an anti-government march to protest inflation and corruption. Lagos, Nigeria (CNN) Thousands of Liberians gathered in the capital Monrovia Friday to protest "corruption and creeping dictatorship" in the country. Social media sites were later blocked to quell the protests, according to the internet monitoring platform NetBlocks. WhatsApp, Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, Google's Gmail service and the website of The Associated Press were among the sites affected, NetBlocks said. Bai Sama G. Best, managing director of Liberia's Daily Observer newspaper, told CNN most journalists and some citizens are using virtual private networks (VPN) to bypass the restrictions. Liberia's Minister of Information Eugene Nagbe confirmed that social media platforms were shutdown temporarily because of "security concerns." "We have restored some of them," he said. "We are not saying that the protesters ...
Read more