Last night was just heavenly for Charlotte Clymer, thanks to Joe Biden’s “empathetic answer on trans rights”:
Am I surprised that Joe Biden gave such an empathetic answer on trans rights? No, he's been doing this for quite some time. He was the first national leader to publicly support trans rights back in 2012. I wrote about it for @USAToday:#BidenTownHall
https://t.co/AfwGlN0CRU— Charlotte Clymer ?️? (@cmclymer) October 16, 2020
And no, it was not a perfect answer. Biden stumbled over his words, as he sometimes does. The difference here is that so many of us have heard him speak movingly on this so many times in the past that we can have good faith with an imperfect answer. Grace. We know his heart.
— Charlotte Clymer ?️? (@cmclymer) October 16, 2020
Yes, we know his heart.
Joe Biden was the first national leader to support same-sex marriage, on "Meet the Press" in May of 2012. He did it without consulting anyone, despite that a majority of Americans opposed it at the time.
Controversial? Yes, but he did it because it was right.#DemocraticDebate pic.twitter.com/hTu8LrUmSV
— Charlotte Clymer ?️? (@cmclymer) March 16, 2020
Joe Biden was such a pioneer.
By 2012 this was not a dangerous political position on the left. (I mean, I was taking the same position as conservative columnist in 2004.) When it would have been tough, though, Biden voted for DOMA. He's never taken a risky position in his life. https://t.co/Foq2Py90Le
— David Harsanyi (@davidharsanyi) October 16, 2020
Richard Grenell saw a great opportunity to remind Clymer what was actually in Joe Biden’s heart:
Reminder, @JoeBiden was against Marriage Equality when he and Obama ran for re-election. @HRC and @cmclymer were ok with it then.
— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) October 16, 2020
Clymer wasn’t pleased with Grenell for raining on her parade:
Sweetie, Joe Biden literally announced support for same-sex marriage on national television more than six months before their reelection in 2012: https://t.co/fU0pcLY9NS
— Charlotte Clymer ?️? (@cmclymer) October 16, 2020
Good lord, you are so goddamn bad at this. Just terrible.
— Charlotte Clymer ?️? (@cmclymer) October 16, 2020
Charlotte Clymer calling you terrible is actually a good sign that you’re doing something right. And Grenell can more than hold his own against her.
He was against before Dick Cheney said he was for it. https://t.co/nu3FK42hTh https://t.co/WqP9jAIQmN
— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) October 16, 2020
Was this before or after Dick Cheney stood by while his boss pushed for a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage? Remind me. https://t.co/MRm4UoqDJv
— Charlotte Clymer ?️? (@cmclymer) October 16, 2020
We noticed how you switched the subject.
Dick Cheney, John Bolton and @realDonaldTrump all endorsed gay marriage BEFORE Joe Biden did.
And @JoeBiden called gays a security threat as a US Senator.
These are facts – no matter your spin. https://t.co/lvxwETbxKX
— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) October 16, 2020
This is, of course, bullshit.
As late as 2015, Trump was still saying he was supporting "traditional marriage".
Cheney stood by while his boss Bush tried to get a constitutional amendment passed banning same-sex marriage.
Anything else, Richard? Any more fact checks you need? https://t.co/wxW6Fqz3Fj
— Charlotte Clymer ?️? (@cmclymer) October 16, 2020
Yeah, it’s not Richard Grenell who’s losing this battle.
Cheney came out against it. Google it.
You lie. https://t.co/1Cx8u03u0f
— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) October 16, 2020
Oooooh yeah, he really made a fuss over it. He really twisted Bush's arm over it while they were campaigning for reelection. It is so throughly laughable to me the hollowness of how you cling to these table scraps of supposed affirmation. https://t.co/1scAqdXEQU
— Charlotte Clymer ?️? (@cmclymer) October 16, 2020
Do you have an answer, @RichardGrenell? Explain why Bush and Cheney were comfortable with an amendment to ban same-sex marriage.
— Charlotte Clymer ?️? (@cmclymer) October 16, 2020
I don’t defend this. I spoke out against it at the time. I launched a legal case against the State Department over this.
But @JoeBiden supported the anti-gay government position then.
I stood up against Biden then too. https://t.co/KGEqrBEvgG
— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) October 16, 2020
Richard Grenell was silent when Trump and Pence argued to the Supreme Court that employers should be able to fire people for being LGBTQ.
He was silent when Trump and Pence banned trans people from the military.
Silent when they stripped medical protections.
So. Damn. Weak. https://t.co/XoWYOTCqsb
— Charlotte Clymer ?️? (@cmclymer) October 16, 2020
This is your boss in 2015. https://t.co/2MVT39Nuvr pic.twitter.com/3svzMl5FOS
— Charlotte Clymer ?️? (@cmclymer) October 16, 2020
This doesn’t mean someone is against gay marriage. You spin.
But Joe Biden called gay people security risks.
This is obscene. https://t.co/UQycVAicTW https://t.co/rz2gQTqxmV
— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) October 16, 2020
Charlotte should really give this a read. So of course she won’t.
When someone says "I'm for traditional marriage", I believe them. I realize you Log Cabin folks have to jump through mind bending hoops to rationalize their hatred toward you, but you can't spin this one. It's right there. He thought in 2015 that same-sex marriage was bad. https://t.co/Z4NGd1DHqQ
— Charlotte Clymer ?️? (@cmclymer) October 16, 2020
Trump was for gay marriage before Biden and Obama and Hillary.
So was Cheney. So was Bolton. https://t.co/kTUX7ZS1kU
— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) October 16, 2020
Yes, Sweetie, just keep whispering this to yourself at night before you go to sleep. I'm sure if you say it enough, the counters of space and time will warp enough to make it so that Cheney didn't back up a man who hates us and Trump didn't spend four years attacking our rights. https://t.co/znPG3KD712
— Charlotte Clymer ?️? (@cmclymer) October 16, 2020
There’s that “sweetie” again. It’s Clymer’s sneering condescension that really sells her message.
"Traditional marriage and family, based on marriage between one man and one woman, is the foundation for a free society and has for millennia been entrusted with rearing children and instilling cultural values."
— 2016 Republican Party Platform
Hey @RichardGrenell, this you?
— Charlotte Clymer ?️? (@cmclymer) October 16, 2020
"In Obergefell, five unelected lawyers robbed 320 million Americans of their legitimate constitutional authority to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman."
— 2016 + 2020 Republican Party Platform, upon which @RichardGrenell's boss campaigned
Fun times!
— Charlotte Clymer ?️? (@cmclymer) October 16, 2020
"The data and the facts lead to an inescapable conclusion: Every child deserves a married mom and dad."
Holy shit, @RichardGrenell, did you see this part of the 2016 and 2020 Republican Party Platform? Any thoughts?
— Charlotte Clymer ?️? (@cmclymer) October 16, 2020
"Our laws and our government’s regulations should recognize marriage as the union of one man and one woman and actively promote married family life as the basis of a stable and prosperous society."
— @RichardGrenell's Republican Party Platform in 2016 *and* 2020
— Charlotte Clymer ?️? (@cmclymer) October 16, 2020
"…as explained elsewhere in this platform, we do not accept the Supreme Court’s redefinition of marriage and we urge its reversal, whether through judicial reconsideration or a constitutional amendment returning control over marriage to the states."
Damn, @RichardGrenell.
— Charlotte Clymer ?️? (@cmclymer) October 16, 2020
Damn, Charlotte Clymer.
It is also in their platform today. A serious question – how does someone who is from LGBTQ+ community support this? https://t.co/liF1D1ClUa
— Henk Campher (@AngryAfrican) October 16, 2020
We don’t. We speak out against the GOP platform regularly. So does @realDonaldTrump.
You, however, always swallow the DNC lines. https://t.co/XY5CM1ZAPl
— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) October 16, 2020
Always. Because Clymer is a fraud. Her supposed commitment to LGBTQ rights is entirely politically motivated.
Richard, that was THIS YEAR. Trump is literally campaigning as the leader of a party who said the most heinous shit about LGBTQ people in their formal platform, and this is your response? Are you joking? Have some goddamn self-respect for once. https://t.co/0rvMQJtrwV
— Charlotte Clymer ?️? (@cmclymer) October 16, 2020
Grenell has enough self-respect to walk away from Clymer’s attempts to rewrite history and shame him for refusing to abide by the rules Clymer has set for the LGBTQ community.
Clymer could learn a great deal from Grenell. About self-respect, about Joe Biden, and about being someone worth taking seriously.