Buttigieg’s Campaign Sparks Another Controversy in RI - Cancels Event Due to “Dancer’s Pole”
Saturday, January 18, 2020
Democratic Presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg’s campaign has sparked yet another political controversy in Rhode Island.
On Friday at approximately 6 P.M., the Dark Lady took to Facebook to announce that Pete Buttigieg's husband Chasten had abruptly canceled an appearance at the gay club that night.
Providence City Council President and Buttigieg supporter Sabina Matos had promoted the event on her Facebook page earlier that day.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThis is the third controversy in Rhode Island tied to the Buttigieg campaign.
The Dark Lady wrote:
Pete Buttigieg’s husband just canceled his appearance/fundraiser tonight at the Dark Lady because the “gay bar has a dancer pole!”
Sorry this event is no longer happening this evening. We guess this is what the gay candidate does to the gay community!
#downonthepoles #dancersforanyoneelse
We’re open, we’re here, we’re queer, get over it! OPENING AT 8 pm
Buttigieg Blocked Media from Previous Rhode Island Event
As GoLocal reported in November, Buttigieg visited Providence for a political event -- and broke with both Democratic and Republican presidential candidate tradition by blocking press from attending.
In the past, press has always been extended some access to candidates even for fundraising events.
The event was titled, "Providence Grassroots Event with Mayor Pete."
GoLocal photographer Richard McCaffrey reached out to the Buttigieg campaign to coordinate press credentials for the event, but was met with an email from Chief of Staff for Communications Andrew Mamo deny press access.
Hey Richard,
Apologies, but Pete's event in Providence this weekend is closed [to the] press.
Andrew Mamo
Chief of Staff, Communications
According to the event’s online invitation, “Pete for America is committed to meeting all access needs. If a member of your party requires any accommodations, please email.”
"This is the third presidential cycle campaign cycle GoLocal has covered and we have been at events for President Barack Obama, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton — this is a bad precedent for presidential candidates and very surprising that Mayor Buttigieg would take such a stand,” said GoLocal CEO and Co-Founder Josh Fenton.
Questionable Experts
In December, GoLocal unveiled that Buttigieg rolled out the names of more than two hundred "foreign policy and national security experts" across the country and one of them was Rhode Islander Nick Autiello.
According to the signature page of the four-page letter, Autiello said he was a special advisor to Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo, signing, “Nick Autiello, Former Special Advisor to Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo.”
The Buttigieg campaign forwarded a copy of Autiello’s resume as stating, “OFFICE OF GOVERNOR GINA M. RAIMONDO Providence, RI January 2016 – June 2018, December 2018 - present Special Advisor, Executive Office of Commerce.”
According to Raimondo's office, Autiello never worked on the Governor's staff. State salary records show he was never paid by the executive office.
Staff at Commerce Rhode Island said Autiello was a mid-level staffer at the quasi-public agency.
Autiello ran in the Democratic primary in Senate District 5 in 2018, but finished a distant third. Sam Bell took 46 percent of the vote to 37 percent for Paul Jabour and 17 percent for Nick Autiello. Autiello appeared twice on GoLocal LIVE and did not reference working Raimondo, but did discuss his economic development experience.
Earlier in his career, Autiello was a Republican and in 2008 he supported the GOP's Rudy Giuliani for President.
Buttigieg's Campaign Explantation
The questions regarding the foreign policy expert list from GoLocal sent the Buttigieg campaign scrambling.
Buttigieg’s national press secretary Chris Meagher told GoLocal that the list of experts was developed by third-party volunteer group and not the campaign.
"Looping you with Doug and Ned, who organized the group, not the campaign," wrote Meagher.
The letter said, in part, "We believe in America’s international leadership, and in the values that underpin its capability to bring about collective security and prosperity, as well as change for the greater good. So we cannot stand by and continue to watch all that we have stood and worked for tweeted away."
Douglas Wilson, one of the organizers of the letter told GoLocal that those experts that signed the letter received a varying degree of review. “Yes, all went through a short vetting process. Those involved in specific policy areas went through a deeper vetting process,” said Wilson, who signed the letter and served as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs by President Barack Obama in 2010.
Today, Wilson serves on the board of advisors for the Truman Center.
The other organizer of the group was Ned Price, Former National Security Council spokesperson and senior director, and special assistant to President Obama. Today, he is a fellow at George Washington University.
GoLocal repeatedly reached out to Autiello for comment, he emailed on Monday night, "I’ve published academic work on foreign policy in a top journal. At Commerce, I worked on global economic and trade issues. I’m also a member of the Mayor’s volunteer foreign policy team. This was an opt-in list."
When asked in a follow-up call if his resume stating that he worked for Raimondo was misleading, Autiello said no, adding "I was assigned to the executive office. That is the same thing."
Autiello received an undergraduate degree in International Relations from Florida International University and earned a master’s degree from the London School of Economics. Autiello said he wrote his graduate dissertation on foreign relations issues. Autiello's dissertation was titled, "Taming the Wild Dragon: John F. Kennedy and the Republic of China, 1961-1963."
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