The owner and editor-in-chief of the New Republic apologized for an opinion piece published Friday that criticized presidential candidate and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, on a deeply personal and invasive level.

The article contained broad assumptions about the mayor’s personal life an repeatedly referred to Buttigieg as “Mary Pete.” After the op-ed was widely panned by many members of the media, editor Chris Lehmann claimed that it was “largely meant as satire.” Soon after, it disappeared from the New Republic website. The article was written by openly gay liberal author Dale Peck.

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