VICTOR JOECKS: Buttigieg, other Democrats hoisted on their own identity-politics petard

Watching the left being forced to apply its standards to Democrats is the best part of the Democrat presidential race.

For instance, liberal groups and the media — I repeat myself — have spent the past several years smearing Chick-fil-A as an anti-LGBT company. “If you really love LGBTQ people, you just can’t keep eating Chick-fil-A” blared a HuffPost headline last year. Chick-fil-A’s crime was donating to three Christian charitable organizations, including the Salvation Army.

Yes, that Salvation Army. The organization that collects donations in red kettles outside stores to provide food and shelter to the homeless.

“We serve more than 23 million individuals a year, including those in the LGBTQ+ community,” the Salvation Army said after Chick-fil-A officials announced last month that they would stop donating to the group. “We believe we are the largest provider of poverty relief to the LGBTQ+ population.”

Leftists don’t care. They despise the Salvation Army because it’s a Christian organization that believes marriage is between a man and woman. Therefore, they consider it offensive to associate with the Salvation Army.

Enter Pete Buttigieg. He’s the openly gay mayor of South Bend, Indiana, who’s become a top-tier Democrat presidential hopeful. According to progressive logic, he must be in cahoots with those opposed to LGBT folks. Why? He used to volunteer for the Salvation Army. Old photos have surfaced of Mayor Pete wearing a Salvation Army apron and ringing a bell to collect donations. Bring out the fainting couches. And then the torches. Burn that heretic with an onslaught of fiery outrage on Twitter.

This whole episode shows the baselessness of the left’s repeated attacks on the Salvation Army. One of the great things about America is that you can disagree with people on a host of issues but work with them on areas of agreement. Helping homeless people shouldn’t be controversial. If the national mainstream media weren’t hopelessly biased, leftists would have been roundly criticized or ignored when they tried to make this an issue.

This isn’t the only example of the left’s standards coming back to bite Democrats. One year ago, CNN placed Sen. Kamala Harris at the top of its Democrat presidential power rankings. As an African-American female from the nation’s largest state, she had a host of advantages. She turned out to be a terrible candidate — awkward on the stump and waffling on issues. On Wednesday, she dropped her presidential bid. Sen. Cory Booker, the sole remaining African-American in the race, played the race card.

“We started with one of the most diverse fields in our history,” Booker tweeted. “It’s a damn shame that the only African-American woman in this race is no longer in it, and we’re spiraling toward a debate stage without a single person of color.”

The African-American voters who support Joe Biden over Harris and Booker will be surprised to learn they’re secret racists. What a joke.

This isn’t evidence that the Democratic Party is filled with bigots or racists. Instead, it shows how ridiculous some of the left’s most prominent attacks against conservatives are.

Contact Victor Joecks at vjoecks@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4698. Follow @victorjoecks on Twitter.