Overview
- Ocasio-Cortez, in a TMZ hallway interview Wednesday on Capitol Hill, said the country may have already had a gay president and added that she did not know for sure.
- She posted the clip with the caption “This was fun,” and coverage over the next two days spread across outlets with different slants, from Breitbart to The Advocate and PinkNews.
- Reports recapped familiar speculation around figures like James Buchanan, Abraham Lincoln, and Barack Obama, yet no new documents or evidence emerged to verify any claim.
- Historians cited in the coverage pushed back on readings of past friendships as sexual, with Charles Strozier noting that close male bonds in the 19th century do not prove intimacy.
- Past commentary resurfaced for context, including Pete Buttigieg’s 2019 view that it is almost certain a gay president served, while AOC also argued electability rests more on policy than gender.