White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki is facing severe backlash for a tweet she posted last year wherein she referred to Sen. Lindsey Graham as "Lady G." Psaki had posted the tweet last year in August but it resurfaced only this week, with Twitter users now calling her homophobic and asking her to apologize for using the "offensive" phrase.
Many are also calling her "tone deaf" given Joe Biden administration's push to be the most inclusive in history. Psaki's old tweet also comes as a shock to many as she is believed to be one of the most intelligent women in Biden's contingent and starkly opposite to her predecessor Kellyanne Conaway.
In the Center of Controversy
In a August 5 2020 tweet, Jen Psaki wrote: "Only in 2020 does #LadyG get to push a bunch of debunked conspiracy theories while questioning @SallyQYates (aka an American hero)." The tweet was intended to former acting attorney general Sally Yates who was set to testify before the senate judiciary committee, which Graham chairs.
Interestingly, the tweet was posted around the time the hashtag #LadyG started trending on Twitter after gay porn star Sean Harding made a series of allegations online against Graham and claimed "Lady G" was his nickname among male sex workers.
According to Fox News, many of Graham's critics have in the past have labeled the 65-year-old South Carolina lawmaker as a gay man and used homophobic slurs against him as he never married but had children. Graham, however, on multiple occasions has denied the allegations.
Slammed by Her Critics
Although not too many spoke about Psaki's tweet at that time, the sudden resurfacing of the tweet this week has now made many twitter users call Psaki "homophobic" and "tone deaf". Psaki, however, hasn't commented on this yet.
Richard Grenell, who was as former President Donald Trump's acting director of national intelligence and is openly gay, tweeted: "Homophobia and intolerance from the Left is growing."
"This is a pretty tone deaf thing to leave up when you profess to be a part of the most inclusive administration in history," one user wrote. Many have also been calling on Psaki to publicly address the tweet and apologize, while some started comparing her with Trump's last press secretary Conaway.
"Kayleigh was asked about her old tweets about Trump so I'd think Biden's press secretary lobbing a homophobic insult at Lindsey Graham this past summer would be fair game to ask about in today's press briefing," one person tweeted.
"Did she really refer to @LindsayGrahamSC as Lady G? I guess this is "decency" we all were promised," wrote journalist Will Ricciardella.
"Very disappointed someone in her position would embrace this style politics," Graham's spokesman Kevin Bishop said in a statement. The tweet was still visible on Psaki's account as of late Thursday.
