Gov. Polis earlier this week hailed Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg as the first openly LGBT cabinet member in American history.
https://twitter.com/jaredpolis/status/1356717544896258050?s=20
Others in the press joined in congratulating Buttigieg on his historic “first” as well.
There’s just one problem.
Buttigieg is not the first openly gay cabinet member.
Ric Grenell made history as the first openly gay cabinet member last year when he was appointed by President Trump as the Acting Director of National Intelligence (DNI).
Grenell offered a subtle response to Democrats like Polis who ignored his tenure.
Congratulations to @PeteButtigieg on becoming the second openly gay member of a President’s Cabinet.
Welcome to the club! pic.twitter.com/BbKK6iTBW1
— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) February 2, 2021
Some in the media recognized their error and corrected their stories to say that Buttigieg was the first openly gay cabinet member to earn Senate confirmation.
Correction: Buttigieg is first openly gay person to be confirmed as a Cabinet secretary.
Under Pres. Trump, Richard Grenell served as acting director of national intelligence and is openly gay, but did not face confirmation as an acting director.
A new tweet will be issued. pic.twitter.com/mKRFDGp2Gs
— NBC News (@NBCNews) February 2, 2021
Polis has not offered any sort of correction or clarification.
Obviously, the governor holds profound contempt for Grenell’s brand of conservatism, but dismissing Grenell’s indisputable role as a cabinet member at DNI is revisionist history.
Unless Polis is prepared to suggest acting heads of department’s are not cabinet members, which of course would be ridiculous, he’s maliciously lying.
Polis’s insulting dismissal of Grenell also sends the LGBT community a stark message: conform to left-wing beliefs espoused by the liberal establishment, or prepare to be ostracized.
It’s unfortunate the first openly gay governor in Colorado so possessed by partisan hatred that he can’t bring himself to offer the actual first out LGBT cabinet official the recognition Grenell deserves.