White House press secretary Jen Psaki has come under fire for referring to Senator Lindsey Graham as “Lady G” in an old tweet that is being dismissed as off-base and homophobic.
The August 5, 2020 message caused a backlash when it surfaced again this week on Twitter, with several people calling on Psaki to apologize for using the phrase “offensive” and “tone deaf.”
“Only in 2020 will #LadyG get a chance to push some debunked conspiracy theories while calling @SallyQYates (aka an American hero) into question,” Psaki tweeted.
The comment came when former acting Attorney General Sally Yates would testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which Graham (R-SC) chairs.
The hashtags #LadyG and #LadyGraham were popular on Twitter last year after a gay pornstar made a string of allegations against South Carolina lawmakers, claiming that ‘Lady G’ was his nickname among male sex workers.
Critics on the left have long suggested that 65-year-old Graham is a gay man because he was never married and had children, according to Fox News. He has denied the rumors.
Several Twitter users skipped Psaki about the tweet.
Richard Grenell, who served as acting director of former President Donald Trump’s National Intelligence Directorate and is openly gay, wrote, “Homophobia and bigotry on the left are on the rise.”
“This must be universally condemned. @PressSec, ” he added.
Journalist Glenn Greenwald notedTo: “Liberals have full and complete exemptions from the speech rules to which all others are subject.”
“Very disappointed that anyone in her position would embrace this style policy,” Graham’s spokesman Kevin Bishop said in a statement.
“It says more about her than it does about Senator Graham.”
Psaki did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Post.