Derrick Van Orden has a theory about why America might elect a gay Republican before Pete Buttigieg gets his turn. Pete Buttigieg has been saying for years that America is ready for a gay president. Apparently, the Wisconsin Republican has been doing some very different political math.
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The Wisconsin Republican was asked Thursday on Capitol Hill about Buttigieg’s belief that the country is ready to elect a gay president, a position Buttigieg has said dates back to his 2020 presidential campaign. Van Orden said a candidate’s sexuality doesn’t affect how he judges them. Then the conversation took a sharp turn toward Black voters.
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Because apparently we’re adding another chapter to the eternal political question of whether America is ready for a gay person in the Oval Office.
Van Orden has a theory about the Black vote
When asked whether the rest of America feels the same way about gay candidates, Van Orden claimed that, statistically speaking, African Americans “are not ready to vote for a gay candidate.”
😳 Rep. Derrick Van Orden tells @hicharliecotton that Black voters aren’t ready for a gay president. pic.twitter.com/3GJDjYWCG4
— TMZ (@TMZ) September 17, 2026
He argued that could create a problem for Democrats, who have historically relied heavily on Black voters.
It’s a remarkably broad claim about a huge and politically diverse group of people, and Van Orden did not provide the statistical evidence behind it during the exchange. But he wasn’t finished with his theory.
Charlie then asked whether that could mean America sees a gay Republican president before a gay Democratic one. Van Orden’s answer?
“Objectively, yes.”
Well, that’s certainly one way to keep the political crystal ball busy.
Enter Scott Bessent
Van Orden pointed to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who is openly gay, as an example of how a gay Republican could potentially navigate the political landscape.
His argument was that Republicans care more about whether someone is qualified than about their race or sexuality.
He then turned the comparison toward Democrats, naming Kamala Harris and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson as examples of what he considers a greater emphasis on identity.
The exchange essentially produced Van Orden’s theory of the future: a gay Republican could have a clearer path because, in his view, Republicans are more focused on qualifications, while Black voters could make the Democratic route more difficult. Whether voters actually behave according to that theory is a separate question.
Pete Buttigieg still has the bigger question
Buttigieg has already spent years testing how much voters care about having an openly gay candidate on the presidential ballot. His 2020 campaign made him the first openly gay major-party presidential candidate to win a state-level presidential nominating contest.
Buttigieg has spent years making the case that America is ready for an openly gay president. Van Orden, meanwhile, has offered a very different read on what that path could look like.
And with his prediction that a gay Republican could reach the White House first, he has certainly given the political crystal ball something to chew on.
For now, the hypothetical first gay president remains just that — hypothetical. But apparently, according to Van Orden, the road to the Oval Office comes with considerably more political math than Buttigieg might have expected.
Source: TMZ