Golfer who made homophobic jibe at Pete Buttigieg makes apology so meagre he shouldn’t have bothered
Pete Buttigieg (Paras Griffin/Getty) and Scott Piercy (Sam Greenwood/Getty)
Golfer Scott Piercy has been forced to issue a grovelling apology after he shared a homophobic meme about former presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg on Instagram.
The American professional golfer shared the meme following gay candidate Buttigieg’s dramatic exit from the Democratic race on Sunday night.
The meme read: “Peter pulls out early from behind,” according to a screenshot captured before Piercy deleted the post.
March 1, 2020 : Professional Golfer Scott Piercy (@ScottPiercyPGA ) posted this #QAnon meme on Instagram pic.twitter.com/HVF4PYx3CP
— Jeff DeRiso (@JeffDeRiso) March 3, 2020
The meme also references far-right conspiracy theory QAnon, which details an alleged secret plot against Donald Trump.
Scott Piercy said he was sorry ‘if’ his Instagram story was ‘offensive’.
Piercy deleted the meme from his Instagram story following significant backlash and issued an apology.
“Whenever I post my intent is NEVER to offend. I want to apologise if any of my recent story posts have been offensive. I will do better!” he wrote.
The professional golfing PGA Tour organisation condemned Piercy’s social media post in a statement to Golf Digest.
Whenever I post my intent is NEVER to offend. I want to apologize if any of my recent story posts have been offensive. I will do better!
“We were made aware of Scott’s post and are disappointed in the lack of judgement used,” PGA Tour said.
The professional golfer has been widely slammed on Twitter for the meme, with many suggesting his apology is not good enough.
https://twitter.com/PieperPiedPiper/status/1235190674024206338
The classic non-apology – "If any of my recent posts have been offensive…"
Scott Piercy apologizes after posting anti-gay slur to Instagram https://t.co/XivVDz1P5V— Michael Ecker (@MichaelEcker58) March 4, 2020
Scott Piercy is a coward, resorting to Instagram to share a homophobic meme directed at Buttigieg. As a professional golfer and PGA member he is expected to play and behave by the rules. This incident unfortunately undermines his professionalism @PGATOUR @AlanShipnuck @BBCSport— Joe Carlos (@jcarlos20200) March 4, 2020
Pete Buttigieg put an end to his presidential bid on Sunday night almost a year after announcing his candidacy.
Scott Piercy’s homophobic meme came after Pete Buttigieg pulled out of the Democratic race on Sunday night after a disastrous performance in the South Carolina primary.
The former mayor of South Bend, Indiana had been vying for the Democratic nod for the presidency for almost a year when he announced his resignation.
The gay candidate divided the LGBT+ community and failed to garner support from Black Americans during his campaign.
While Buttigieg’s history-making campaign has come to an end, his sudden rise to the highest echelons of the Democratic party will likely make him a mainstay on the political landscape.
Joe Biden, who experienced a surge in the primaries on Super Tuesday, has already indicated that, if elected, Buttigieg would gain a position in his administration.
Meanwhile, an exit poll from NBC News found that the bulk of LGBT+ voters in the Democratic primaries voted for the socialist senator from Vermont Bernie Sanders.
Around 42 per cent of LGBT+ voters ticked Sanders on their ballot box Tuesday, according to an NBC News exit poll, while 22 per cent backed Elizabeth Warren.
