To Pride or not to Pride?

How are you marking Pride Month? This weekend in the DC area, there are really only two ways to go about it.

First, despite concern that the second Trump administration would scythe wholesale through gay rights, America’s capital is hosting World Pride, a two-week-long festival of rainbow-patterned frivolity.

Though there may be fewer corporate sponsors than in the Biden era, DC remains as gay as it ever was. In Northwest, 15th St is painted in rainbow colors and the gay bars are packed to the rafters. In Northeast, a two-day music festival kicks off tonight at the RFK Festival Grounds, headlined by Jennifer Lopez and a nice young man called Troye Sivan. “Most men are gay in DC – either out or closeted depending on whether they’re Democrats ore Republicans,” Natalie Winters told the Times of London recently. Cockburn is still working out where he fits on her Kinsey scale.

In Trump 2.0, there are gay icons everywhere for those with eyes to see. Consider Ric Grenell. Fresh off getting six American hostages in Venezuela freed, the first openly gay man to hold a cabinet-level position is now reshaping the Kennedy Center in Trump’s image – by putting on musicals, as the Donald demands. Then there’s Lord Mandelson: Britain was the first country to secure a trade deal post-Liberation Day, thanks in no small part to their ambassador. Mandelson was honored with a plaque at Butterworth’s yesterday, about which he said he was “very chuffed.”

Raheem Kassam and Lord Peter Mandelson (The Spectator)

And of course there’s Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent: one of the deftest performers in media through the chaotic first few months.

Awkwardly pit against these Pride options is the LIV Golf at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Course in Gainesville, under an hour’s drive from the White House. There’s nothing very Prideful about watching Bryson DeChambeau drive a ball 350 yards while the Saudis stuff his mouth with gold. President Trump will not be attending though: after a few days queening out online with ex-bestie Elon Musk, he’s heading to UFC 316 in Newark, New Jersey.

If you are looking to steer clear of Pride, Cockburn has a hot tip: there’s an app you can get that shows you your distance from queer folk – and what they look like. It’s called Grindr and it’ll help you stay away. Cockburn considers this a must-download for LIV.

On our radar

‘THE MAN WHO HAS LOST HIS MIND’ This morning President Trump told ABC’s Jonathan Karl that he was “not particularly” interested in speaking to Elon Musk.

AFRIKABURN Steve Bannon has called for a formal investigation of Musk’s immigration status as he is “of the strong belief that he is an illegal alien, and he should be deported from the country immediately.”

TUCK-TOK Vice President J.D. Vance put Tucker Carlson and Andreessen Horowitz on a potential list of US TikTok investors.

KJP goes it alone

Karine Jean-Pierre, President Joe Biden’s former press secretary, is apparently no longer a Democrat. Is her change in affiliation sincere, an attempt to sell her new book, Independent, or both?

Previous press secretaries have departed public service and headed into cushy roles in cable news: look at Fox News’s Ari Fleischer, Kayleigh McEnany and Dana Perino, ABC’s George Stephanopoulos or Jen Psaki at MSNBC.

But the media environment is changing, and TV news isn’t as safe as it once was. Its fading stars are now heading for Substack, like Jim Acosta, Chuck Todd, Joy Reid and Chris Cillizza. Or they’re making a point of demonstrating how contrarian and “independent-minded” they are, like Chris Cuomo on News Nation or like Jake Tapper who co-authored the bombshell book reporting about Joe Biden’s decline. This last path appears to be the one Jean-Pierre has chosen.

For years, Republicans bashed KJP as an in-over-her-head replacement for Psaki, Biden’s first press secretary. Even while KJP was behind the podium, her colleagues had knives out for her, often being sharpened by Biden’s national security communications advisor John Kirby.

Now some Biden alumni have, briefly, gone on the record to savage their former colleague. Tim Wu, a former Biden economic advisor, tweeted, “from a WH policy staff perspective, the real problem with Karine Jean-Pierre was that she was kinda dumb. No interest in understanding harder topics. Just gave random incoherent answers on policy.” His tweet was deleted almost instantly. At ease, soldier.

At least Wu, unlike most of KJP’s former colleagues, had the courage to briefly put his name on his criticisms on the record. Several others went on background to Axios to lambast her. “Today Karine lost the only constituency that ever supported her – party-line Democrats,” one said.

Cockburn felt it was only fair to ask another veteran political strategist to assess KJP’s situation, and to grant them equal levels of anonymity. They said: “The space between ‘historic first’ and ‘kinda dumb’ is: Are you serving at all times the one true faith of the Democratic Party?”

Check, please

Democrats are ratcheting up their activism – against popular DC restaurants.

In an attempt to win back union support, over 50 House and Senate Democrats signed onto the Unite Here Local 25 pledge to boycott six eateries for unfair labor practices. The restaurants include Bombay Club and Michelle Obama’s favorite, Le Diplomate.

“If a bunch of workers are organizing across multiple restaurants here in DC, it will get attention,” Representative Greg Landsman of Ohio told Axios.

A couple of the restaurants – Osteria Mozza and the Occidental – are owned by Democratic megadonor Stephen Starr.

Alternatives such as Cafe Milano or RPM Italian are likely to beneficiaries of the boycott.

A Spectator book launch in NYC

Cockburn briefly departed the swampy humidity of DC and headed north to the concrete heat of NYC to attend The Spectator’s inaugural live event in the US. The toast of the evening was Rachel Cockerell who has written a fascinating book called Melting Pot, about the Galveston plan and the Jewish experience in 1900s America.

The night started off strong with great cocktails and conversation with Speccie subscribers. With guests sipping white wine, beer and sake, graciously provided by the event sponsor Soto Sake, it was standing room only for the conversation between New York editor Orson Fry and Cockerell. The pair dove into the book, and Cockerell shared details about the Galveston Plan and her grandfather’s experience as a cofounder of the movement.

Afterward the party spilled out of the Palo Gallery and onto the cobblestoned sidewalks of Bond Street. Cockburn enjoyed mingling with his readers and notable guests including Ted Lasso’s Keeley Hazell, Charly Sturm, Aurora Messel, Jasper and Octavia Greig, Freya Jones, Karen Lehrman Bloch, Thomas Straker, Danny Moynihan, Robert Novogratz, Palo Gallery owner Paul Henkel, Breaker Media’s Lachlan Cartwright, Mediaite’s Aidan McLaughlin, Chadwick Moore, Airmail’s Harrison Vail, Spectator editors Ben Clerkin and Kate Andrews and publisher Zack Christenson.