By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
Pete Buttigieg, Rachel Campos-Duffy, Raymond Arroyo
People online wondered whether it was a Freudian slip from the host, who happens to be the wife of Donald Trump's transportation secretary.
Rachel Campos-Duffy, a Fox News anchor and the wife of President Donald Trump’s Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, appeared to coin a new antigay slur Thursday night during a segment attacking former Biden Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg — a popular target on the right.
Keep up with the latest in LGBTQ+ news and politics. Sign up for The Advocate's email newsletter.
In a riff prompted by a chyron that read “Mayor Pete: Dems are finger waggers,” Campos-Duffy launched into a tirade questioning Buttigieg’s masculinity.
“He’s clearly gotten the masculinity problem memo. He’s pretending not to be a beta,” she said. “He grew a beard and he hit the manosphere, the male podcast world.”
A clip of Buttigieg from the show aired next. “I do think my party needs to do a much better job, especially with the kind of finger wagging that you're talking about. I think we are very prone to that,” he said. “You get this sense of moral conviction and you're so sure of it that you start to think it makes it okay to be an asshole.”
“Isn’t Pete the worst virtue-signaling winger fagger?” she remarked, annunciating the phrase and smirking, before quickly correcting herself and saying “wagger."
The moment, which aired live, quickly circulated online, with some viewers accusing Campos-Duffy of using a veiled slur targeting Buttigieg’s sexuality.
Related: Pete Buttigieg enters the manosphere in marathon Flagrant podcast appearance
“FREUDIAN SLIP??” one user posted on X (formerly Twitter). “Rachel Campos-Duffy (whom I love) did a segment on the Jesse Watters show today about the ‘finger wagging Democrats’ and then this happened!”
A Fox News spokesperson told The Advocate that Campos-Duffy misspoke and pointed to her quickly correcting herself.
The segment, which focused on Buttigieg’s widely praised appearance on the popular comedy podcast Flagrant, also featured Fox News contributor Raymond Arroyo, who mocked Buttigieg’s masculinity and outreach to younger male voters.
“Mayor Pete is not exactly the one you send out to get the young bro crowd,” Arroyo said. “You may as well send Dylan Mulvaney doing a makeup class and hope you can get more guys.”
Mulvaney, a transgender actress and influencer with a massive online following, has been the frequent target of right-wing attacks for her visibility and LGBTQ+ advocacy. Arroyo’s invocation of her name — in a mocking comparison — drew additional criticism for perpetuating transphobic tropes alongside homophobia. Mulvaney is the cover star of the latest print issueof the latest print issue of The Advocate.
Campos-Duffy followed up Arroyo’s jab by taking aim at Buttigieg’s appearance: “Funny how we thought throwing the beard would somehow change everything. It didn’t.” Arroyo replied, “It didn’t make us forget.”
Buttigieg, who served as President Joe Biden’s transportation secretary and remains one of the most high-profile openly gay politicians in the country, recently appeared on Flagrant for a nearly three-hour conversation about masculinity, politics, fatherhood, and identity.
Related: Dylan Mulvaney opens up about ‘Beergate,’ tripping on ayahuasca, and her new book
On the podcast, Buttigieg discussed raising adopted Black twins with his husband Chasten, navigating parenthood as a gay white man, and advocating for equitable economic policy and AI regulation.
That tone, however, stood in stark contrast to the mocking Fox News segment — and the personal nature of the attacks drew sharp condemnation from LGBTQ+ advocates and allies.
Lis Smith, a Democratic strategist and longtime adviser to Buttigieg, fired back on X: “So glad that we have Mr. Arroyo and his spray-painted hairline and spackled-on foundation and service to the country of commentating on partisan TV to demonstrate to us what ‘real’ masculinity is.”
Buttigieg has not publicly addressed the remarks, but his defenders argue that the reaction of the right-wing media only proves how deeply his message resonated.
“Pete’s intelligence and singular ability to articulate his ideas to any audience gets like a mile under the skin of these pathetic frauds,” one person on X wrote.
